I'll Always Be There
by xxxBreeBreexxx
Summary: Serena chose to get into the car with Tripp that night, but she knew her true feelings were for Nate. She soon goes back to him, and he says he'll always be there for her. But will that change with a secret Serena is keeping from him?
1. Chapter 1

_So my very first fanfic I've ever made. I hope you guys enjoy it. Tell me what you think, and give me suggestions and tips to make it better or more interesting. Hopefully I'll get better and better each chapter I do._

_Oh, sidenote: The story's based on the show, not the books. I just had to put it under the books category because it didn't have an option for gossip girl in the t.v. shows selection. Just thought I'd mention that._

_Enjoy!_

_-B!_

I'll Always Be There

A Gossip Girl Fanfiction by: Brianna Daugherty

**Chapter 1: The Letdown**

Serena van der Woodsen hopped into the car, wondering why the hell she actually did. She felt a large warm hand on top of hers and she looked into his eyes.

"You made the right decision Serena. Nathaniel could never be the man you needed. He's a boy just out of high school. I am a college graduate, who's now a senator. I am a man." Tripp gave her a smile.

Serena smiled back, but something inside her said that something wasn't right. Why'd she leave Nate, after his pleas of wanting her to stay. Did she love Tripp? Or was it just another one of her many

flings. She desperately wanted to believe she genuinely loved Tripp, and that she was just feeling guilty for leaving Nate alone on the sidewalk with his puppy dog eyes.

It had been a long night for Serena, and she pushed these feelings aside and succumbed to her exhaustion. She laid her head down on Tripp's shoulder. It was nice. She felt safe, and when she

raised her head up to give Tripp a kiss, all she saw was Nate. She blinked her eyes rapidly for a few seconds and saw Tripp right there, waiting anxiously for the kiss Serena was about to give him. She

sighed, slightly disappointed, and gave Tripp a passionate kiss. She did this to convince herself that everything she did was right, and that she truly loved Tripp. Maybe guilt was just taking over her

feelings for Tripp. Nate would get over it. "He was just your friend, Serena. Remember that."

She laid back down on Tripp's shoulder and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

Nate stood there in the bitter cold, wishing Serena would see that Tripp was not good for her at all. That _he _was good for her. He loved her. He always had. He wasn't satisfied with the few times they

had snuck around and slept with each other. He wanted to be more then friends with benefits. He wanted Serena to be his girlfriend. And now, as he saw the limo pull away, Serena with his cousin-his

best friend-he knew that wouldn't happen now. He stood there in the same spot for a good ten minutes. He was hoping Serena would change her mind and come back, into his arms. But he had to

face the facts and get over it and get over her. There were plenty of fish in the sea. "But there's only one Serena in the sea of fish. And the other fish don't even compare to Serena," Nate thought. He

finally gave up waiting and went to a bar close to where he was. He wanted to feel numb from the pain. He drank shot after shot of vodka, until he knew he could handle no more. He stumbled out of

the bar and to his apartment. "Thank god my apartment's close by" Nate said aloud. He soon had a sudden urge to vomit. He went behind a dumpster and emptied all the contents of his stomach.

"Not only do I have a broken heart, but now I'm fuckin' wasted and I smell like shit. Great."

Nate, taking a lot longer to get to his apartment then usual, naturally, finally made it into his apartment. He took a quick shower, and brushed his teeth twice, before hopping into bed. All he could

think about was how Serena would be in bed with Tripp, in his arms and not his own. If only she would've listened, she'd be here with him and he wouldn't wake up to a massive hangover. Instead he

was alone. He tried to push thoughts of Serena and Tripp out of his head so he could sleep. He didn't really care if he didn't wake up at all the next morning.


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay so here's chapter 2. I have to warn theres a slight M rated part in here. It's quick and not really too mature but I had to mention it. Also this is my first time doing this so leave me comments on anything I can improve on or do differently. _

_I'll try to get chapter three and possibly a chapter four up on here before I leave for my trip on the 20th. If not I promise I'll get a chapter up as soon as I get back on the 27th. _

_Thanks for taking the time to read (and even review? :) ) this story._

_-B!_

I'll Always Be There

**Chapter 2: The Lonely Life of Serena van der Woodsen**

Serena made her way back upstairs after making herself a coffee. She was hoping to have a few one on one moments with Tripp before he went to the office for another twelve hours. She glanced at

the clock on the wall. "6:10. There's no way Tripp is going to work this early. For once I finally get to have him for fifty minutes without him leaving me here all alone…again." She sighed. They barely

hang out, let alone have sex. He's always having to work, or deal with his soon to be ex-wife Maureen. She was still pissed that it was taking him this long to get divorced with Maureen. She wanted

it to be final already so they could spend their lives together.

Today is going to be different. Serena got up four hours earlier then she normally did to try to get Tripp to spend time with her. She had been increasing the time she got up every day for the past four

days now. But every time she tried, Tripp had either left the house or was getting ready to leave the house, leaving Serena all alone with nothing to do for twelve hours. Finally she found out he got

up at seven to leave for work, so today she got up fifty minute before seven so she'd have at least some time with him, especially if things progressed more then just making out, like she had hoped.

She had finally made her way to the master bedroom to see Tripp fast asleep on his side of the bed. She smiled at how cute he slept. It had been a month since Serena left New York and her world

behind to spend her life with Tripp. She had begun to love him, though something still didn't seem right and she was never quite as satisfied. She slowly crept into her side of the bed and scooted over

to Tripp, nibbling softly on his shoulder. She then proceeded to kiss up his neck, behind his ear. She took his earlobe between her two lips and began massaging it with her lips. At this, he woke up

and slowly turned to Serena. She smiled lovingly at him, hoping to get something out of him. Instead, Tripp grunted a little and said, "Serena, you do realize its 6:15 and I have work in forty five

minutes don't you? I want to get as much rest as possible because today I am going to be bombarded with work."

Serena whined and retorted back "Tripp, you use that excuse all the time when I want love. You can't be this bombarded _all _the time."

"Yes, I can Serena. I am a senator for Christ sakes."

Serena was getting more frustrated by the minute. What was so wrong with wanting a _little _bit of love from your soon to be boyfriend, the guy you gave up everything for. "Damn it Tripp, what's your

deal? It's been two weeks since we made love, and I hardly get to see you at all anyways. I'm stuck at this goddamn house all day, with nobody but the housekeeper to keep me company. There's

only so much t.v. or reading or internet surfing you can do for a month without getting bored, Tripp. I most of the time don't even get service for my phone so I can call people back home, like B! So

excuse me for wanting just a **little **attention from a guy I'm passionately in love with." She sort of lied towards the end. She wouldn't say she was _passionately _in love with him, but she did love him.

"Serena, I-"

"What's so wrong with me that you can't make love to me Tripp," Serena said, cutting him off, because once she gets started she can't stop until she has her way, "am I bad at it, am I revolting, do

you not like sex, are you GAY?"

"Serena, no. Don't be ridiculous, you are great at sex, you are so sexy it makes me go mad, I love sex, and where the hell do you get off thinking I'm gay?"

"I was watching a show where a senator left his wife for a _man._ I thought maybe you would be gay too…."

"Serena don't be daft."

"Well, that's what you get for making me watch twelve hours of t.v."

"Can't we do it when I get home, when we have more time to, you know…"

"Tripp, you always say that, and time and time again it never happens. I want you NOW, and I'm not taking no for an answer!"

Tripp sighed, knowing he had lost once he looked into those blue puppy dog eyes. She had him. It wasn't like he didn't want Serena. Making love to her was indescribable. But he knew that

sometimes, it lasted for hours, and today he just didn't have the time. But he positioned himself above her while she started to undress him and herself. God, she did look beautiful, especially with no

clothes on. And he was happy she was his, but he knew it had to be fast. "Serena, I mean it, this needs to be quick."

"Mhmmm," she moaned, waiting for him to enter. "Just relax Tripp and make love to me like never before. It's been two weeks and I'm deprived." She smiled and at that point Tripp could resist no

longer.

* * *

Nate trudged to college in the snow. It had been a month since he had gotten a phone call or text or email from Serena. Was Tripp preventing her from calling him. But he wasn't the only one who

didn't receive anything from Serena. He had talked to Lily and Dan if they had heard from her. Although he expected Lily to say no after the blow up she and her daughter had had, it still didn't seem

like Serena to not let her mother know how she was doing. And he was surprised to find that Serena hadn't contacted Dan, one of her close guy friends and step-brother. Sure they had been in a

relationship twice and neither time worked out at all, but Serena still considered Dan one of her closest friends to go to for problems. It just didn't make sense that she didn't even call him to tell him

everything was fine.

Nate tried to think of Serena as little as possible. He went as far as to find other girls to keep him distracted from thinking about her. But fake dates and drunken one-night stands couldn't get Serena

out of his head. She knew the chances of her coming back were slim, but he so desperately wanted to hear her voice at least. Anything to keep him sane and alive. He was at the point now that even

if he couldn't have her as his girlfriend, he at least still wanted her as his best friend again. He wished he could get a hold of her to say that he wasn't mad at her for leaving him, and that he still loved

her and always will. Maybe then they could keep in contact a lot more often. He considered a couple of times going to Washington to see Serena and make sure she was okay, but he didn't know

where the house she was staying at was, and if he saw Tripp, he didn't know how he'd be able to stop himself from beating the living shit out of him if they met face to face. How dare Tripp do this, he

knew how much Nate loved Serena. Tripp was his best friend and cousin. Cousins and best friends don't do this to someone, especially someone who took a hit for them to save _their _election

campaign.

* * *

Serena awoke at ten thirty, to find herself naked and alone for the umpteenth time. She had had such an amazing time with Tripp but thirty five minutes with him was just not enough. She sighed and

forced herself out of bed, knowing she'd somehow had to get through another twelve hours without her man. She saw it as unfair to leave the house. Tripp didn't want to ruin all he had worked for by

having Serena running about. People were already suspicious. But she so desperately wanted to shop and meet new people. Serena was not the type of girl to sit in a house all day watching Disney

Channel eating cheetos. She had to be constantly doing something, especially shopping and socializing. She was starting to feel depressed and lonely being in this big house in the middle of nowhere.

She did her normal routine: Make herself Eggo waffles, eating them painstakingly slow, chewing more then necessary to pass the time away. Then she would flip through every channel that was on

the t.v. If she saw something she liked, she'd watch it. If not, she go to the computer and check her emails and try to twitter something clever or fun. She never really did anything exciting or

spectacular, like some of the people she followed tweeted. But she'd lie and say she was in Paris, France eating a croissant or traveling on the Thames river in England. It was extreme and certainly

not true, but it made her feel better, making her imagine being at those places. After surfing the web for about an hour, she'd spend her time reading a book from the library they had in their home.

She wasn't much of a reader, but it passed the time away. After that, she would make dinner for her and Tripp, and anxiously await for him to get home. He got home at seven p.m. Once he got home

he gave her a nice kiss, ate his dinner, and the couple would usually watch a movie on the couch before he got into the shower and went to bed soon after.

Today she felt saucy and made herself some French toast. As usual, she chewed slowly. It took her almost an hour to finish her food. "Yes, a new personal record," Serena congratulated herself. She

laughed mentally that she was happy it took her forty-five minutes to eat, but that just meant less time to get bored or delusional. After that she flipped through all 200 channels their t.v. had. To her

dismay, nothing good was on. Every time she found a show she liked, it turned out to be a rerun. She went to her Mac to check up on her email. Once again, disappointment crept in as she saw not an

email from anyone she knew. She knew Blair was mad at her, but they were best friends. And not hearing from Dan or Nate made her even more depressed, especially when there were no emails from

Nate. Was he really _that _mad at her? She typed in the URL to Twitter and for once twittered "bored out of my mind. Please someone save me from this hell hole I'm in. This fairytale is turning into a

nightmare." She sighed and clicked out of internet explorer. She wanted to go read but couldn't bare to read any more. She was not a reader. She decided to switch things up today and go out. If she

was home before Tripp got home, everything would be fine.

* * *

Tripp had logged into Serena's email account before she got on. He knew about the time she got on by her "routine." He knew her friends were constantly sending countless emails to her. They

needed to stop. Nothing was going to ruin this perfect moment in his life. He had finally made senator, was getting divorced from Maureen, and had the most beautiful and desired girl all to himself. If

her friends got a hold of Serena, they could change her mind and he couldn't have that. He even specifically bought the house in the middle of nowhere so she couldn't get service to call any of her

friends or they could call her. He hated doing it and hated keeping her locked up in the house like that, but it was the only way of not losing her. He sighed once again, vowing that he would make life

a little better for Serena, and got back to work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: One Phone Call Can Change Everything**

Serena found a nice park to walk around in. She had taken for granted how nice it felt to get fresh air. Plus, the air here was even more refreshing then the smog-ridden air in New York. Still, nothing

could compare to New York in her mind, even if the air _was _fresher here. She sighed. She didn't know how much longer she could take this. She wanted to go home-badly-and see her friends again.

Especially Nate. She just couldn't shake the feeling of wanting him instead of Tripp. She had grown to love Tripp, but never as much as she'd loved Nate. "He probably doesn't love you back Serena. I

mean, he hasn't sent a single email since you've been here. Face it, he hates you. You lost him," she thought. She wanted to cry, but she didn't. This was her life now. She was with Tripp now, she had

to realize that. She had broken up Tripp's marriage and risked his political career to be with him. "That doesn't mean you need to stay with him. It was him who had the affair. Sure it takes two to have

an affair, but he didn't have to." Serena **had **resisted being with him for the sake of his marriage and campaign. But Tripp just kept at it, and soon she couldn't resist. Serena craved these things. It

wasn't like her to not stir things up.

However, as she sat on a park bench by the pond, she found herself thinking she had made the wrong decision. That she should've stayed with Nate. Did Tripp ever really love her, or just wanted to

mess around? Would they really stay together for long, or would what happened to Maureen happen to her too? As much as she hated Maureen, she put herself in Maureen's shoes. It was sad to

think about. She concluded she was just a plaything to Tripp. Maybe he loved her in some aspects, but not as much as she needed. Nate had loved her. She needed him, and all her friends for that

matter, back in her life. She was sick and tired of living this life. It was no fun and she was just getting depressed. She flipped open her phone to see if she could call someone to get her out of here.

She would drive away but of course Tripp only had one car that he took to work, caging her up like an animal with a chance of no escape.

When she opened her phone, she was actually surprised to see she had service. "Now who to call?" she wondered. She would call Blair, but she was probably too mad to come pick her up all the way

here, plus, Serena didn't feel like getting the "I told you so" lecture. She would call Dan but he probably didn't know much about what was happening to her since he had problems of his own and she

didn't feel like explaining. Her only option now was to call Nate. He was her last chance of escape. She shakily dialed his phone number. She had never been so scared to talk to Nate in her life. She

was even more scared/relieved when he answered.

"Serena! I haven't heard from you in a month in a half, I've missed you!"

"Yo-you have?" Serena was surprised to hear that. She thought he would hate her.

"Of course. Serena, I meant what I said in that bar that night. I love you, and more then just a friend. Tripp-he doesn't deserve you. Your too beautiful, and hyper, and, well, Serena-ish to be with him.

I've known you for years. I know your likes, dislikes, fears, pleasures. Serena I love you and I want you to come home."

Serena was almost in tears as she heard Nate say that. Those were the greatest words she had heard in a long time. "Good, cuz I want to come home. Can you please pick me up? Tripp keeps me

locked up in the house with no way of getting anywhere."

"Of course Serena, I'll be on the first flight there."

"Thanks, Nate."

"Of course Serena."

* * *

Nate quickly hung up the phone and got the first flight he could to Washington. It wouldn't be until 5 or 6 when he got to Washington, but he would cross the ocean if he had to to be Serena's Knight

in shining armor.

He didn't know if he should be more mad at Tripp for keeping Serena away from all possible ways to get a hold of the ones she loved, or happy that in a matter of six hours or so, Serena would be in

his arms safe and sound-and with him. He got into a cab and asked the cab driver to get to the airport as quick as possible.

Serena was overjoyed after getting off the phone with Nate. He still loved her, and she was going back to her old life. She quickly hurried home to pack up her things. She prayed Nate would get here

before Tripp would get home, or else the plan would go up in flames. It was eleven now. It would be cutting it close.

She hurriedly and haphazardly threw things into her suitcase. She didn't care if she forgot some things, she could easily replace any or all of the things. She packed mainly to get her mind off of what

just happened. She was excited to see Nate again, elated that he still loved her, and nervous to see what Tripp would do if he came home before Nate picked her up. After she was done packing,

there was nothing left to do but sit and wait it out. It killed her, but it was all she could do. Every five minutes she peered at the clock, now it was just making her more and more frantic. Finally, six

thirty rolled around and there was no sign of Nate. Luckily there was no sign of Tripp either. But he would be coming home soon and that scared her.

* * *

Tripp was on his way back to the house. But he wanted to stop and get Serena a bundle of roses. He didn't exactly know if they were Serena's favorites, in fact he didn't know much of any of Serena's

favorite things, but he figured every girl likes roses, right? He also picked up a box of the finest chocolate he could find. He wanted to make Serena happy tonight and show her that he did care about

her in his own way. He hopped back into his car and drove home.

* * *

Serena stood on the porch of the house, looking for a car to come over the tiny hill that would eventually save her from this prison. She, by some stroke of luck, had service in that exact area. She had

just got done talking to Nate. He said he got off the plane 20 minutes ago and was on his way to pick her up. She gave him the directions and he told her he'd be there asap. She hoped, because she

was starting to get anxious. Suddenly, she saw a car coming over the hill. Her heart beat a million times faster then it should, and she was getting all giddy. She knew it was Nate, because the car was

starting to slow down to come up the long driveway of the house. She was elated, until she saw who was really in the car. She felt the blood drain from her face. There was no way she could lie. She

had her bags right there, in plain site. It was clear to see that she was leaving.

"Tripp, I-I can explain."

Tripp got out of the car slowly, comprehending everything he was seeing. She saw the roses and chocolates and for a second felt sorry. She changed it, though. There was no way she was going back

on her decision to leave Tripp and go home. Besides, did he really thing roses and chocolates were going to just make her forgive him for what he put her through this past month. She kept her voice

steady, cleared her throat and announced "Tripp, I'm leaving. Nathaniel is picking me up and were going back to New York."

Tripp flew into a fury at that point. He threw the roses on the ground and scattered the chocolates everywhere.

"How dare you Serena. How dare you leave after all I've done for you!"

"What you've done for me. Really? Fuck Tripp, what have you done for me? You've kept me locked up in a fuckin house in the middle of nowhere all by myself. You barely have sex with me, and the only

time I get to spend time with you is the two hours we watch a movie together, which every time I try to kiss or love on you, you tell me to 'shush' so you can watch the damn movie. You hardly know

anything about me! If you did, you would've known I hate roses and am trying to cut back on chocolate. Don't you dare think for a second 35 minutes of sex, a box of chocolates and roses will keep me

satisfied for another month. I'm sick of this Tripp. I'm going home where I belong."

"Dammit Serena. You don't get it do you? I risked tons for you. Maureen, my campaign, my grandfather. He doesn't want to speak to me now for all the trouble I've caused this pass month. So don't

you dare say I didn't do anything."

"If you're so worried about that Tripp, why'd you do it then, huh?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" Tripp shouted. "Or else I wouldn't have done it."

"I'm just your plaything Tripp. You don't truly love me. If you did, you'd let me go and be happy in my old life, with my friends."

"Serena, please-" he pleaded. But Serena just looked at him with distaste. "I'm leaving Tripp. My minds made up, my bags are packed, and I'm leaving. Go back to Maureen, stop risking your job, and

just let me go. It's better this way-for _both _of us."

Tripp stood there, broken and defeated. His heart shattered into a billion pieces. Suddenly, fury once again over took him and he harshly said "fine, I'll take you to the airport if you wish. Let's go."

"Nate's picking me up-"

Tripp grabbed Serena's arm hard and pulled her into the car. "No, he's not."

H grabbed her bags and threw them in the backseat. He hopped into the driver's seat, revved up the engine and flew out of the driveway, all the while muttering things Serena could not make out.

She had to text Nate and tell him what was happening. Tripp was flying down the road at a dangerous speed and she knew they would both be in danger if she didn't get help.

Tripp looked over at her, then back at the road and said "I just need to know what I did wrong. What I did to deserve this."

Serena was getting pissed. She had explained it all to him. "Damn Tripp, open up your ears and LISTEN! You-don't-deserve-me. I'm stuck in a house for 12 hours with nothing to do. I barely get

anything from you, and you just think its okay. Well its not and I'm sick of it."

"Whatever Serena I-"

Serena glanced up at the road to find a cow in the road, the car getting closer and closer to it by the second. "TRIPP LOOK OUT!"

Tripp tore his eyes off of Serena just in time to see the cow in the road. Without thinking, he swerved fast to miss the cow, only to strike a tree at 60 miles an hour.

Everything went black to Serena in an instant.

* * *

After a few minutes, Tripp moved around. He was stiff, but alive. He looked over to Serena, and his stomach flew up to his throat when he realized she had a huge bleeding gash on her forehead and

was unmoving. He got out of his car and called 911.

"Yes, hello I'd like to report an accident. There's a girl in the car, she has a gash in her head and is unconscious." He gave the cops the information they needed and headed away from the scene,

towards the hospital. He was going to meet Serena there but he wasn't going to stay at the scene of the accident. The paramedics would find her soon enough.

* * *

Nate, after getting lost a thousand times before that, finally found the road he need to be on. He drove down the road, knowing Tripp was home by this point. A quick punch to the face would knock

the bastard out for awhile while Serena and him made their escape. He turned around a sharp bend only to be stopped by a policeman. He saw an ambulance and a pretty damaged car. There was

obviously a car crash. He almost blacked out when they pulled a beautiful blonde out of the car. He instantly hopped out of the car.

"Woah, you can't go over there buddy."

Nate pushed the man aside saying that that was his friend. He ran to Serena, seeing the blood running down her face, almost dry. She stirred, then opened up her eyes. Thank God she was okay.

"Whe-where's Tripp? He was in the car with me-is he okay?"

Of course that asshole would call the ambulance and run from the scene. He didn't want to tarnish an ounce of his reputation. Nate kicked himself for getting lost and not getting to Serena sooner. This

wouldn't have happened if he had gotten to her sooner.

"It's going to be okay Serena. I'm here for you okay?" Serena smiled her smile that always seemed to melt Nate's heart then drifted back off to sleep.

"She's going to be okay right?" Nate asked the paramedic.

"She'll be fine, just a few stitches and a night in the hospital and she'll be good to go."

"If I find Tripp, he is a dead man," Nate thought furiously.

* * *

Nate followed the ambulance to the hospital. He wanted to go into Serena's room, but he needed to deal with Tripp first. Tripp didn't deserve to see Serena anymore, especially not now. He paced

outside the doors that had a bright sign saying **EMERGENCY ROOM **until, inevitably, he saw Tripp coming. Of course he had Maureen with him, so as not to draw suspicion. Nate tried to keep his cool

but it seemed impossible looking at the bastards face.

"Where's Serena?" Tripp spat at his cousin.

"It was useless of you to come here Tripp. You are not going anywhere near Serena. You lost her a long time ago, when you locked her away from the outside world. From her friends and family. You

need to leave before YOU end up in the emergency room as well."

Tripp snickered at this, "you think you could hurt your big cousin, Nathaniel? Ha, I'd like to see you try."

With that, before Tripp knew what was coming, Nate balled up his right hand in a tight fist and punched Tripp square in his jaw-hard. Tripp fell to the ground, with Maureen gasping and running to his

side. "Stay away from Serena, Tripp. No contacting her, no visiting her. You had your chance, now she's mine. If you don't heed my warning, I swear the consequences will be even more brutal then

now." Before Tripp could retort, Nate brusquely walked into the doors to Serena's room.

* * *

**A/N: **_Yay, chapter 3 is FINALLY up lol. I know I promised this chapter 3 weeks ago but I couldn't figure out where to go with it until something finally came to me. So what do you think so far? Serena is finally going home, and with her knight in shining armor Nate. But as you guys know, nothing stays perfect for long in the upper east side. So I need some reviews on what you guys want to see happen in this story. I have a few ideas on where I'm taking this story, but I'll need your guys's help to keep the creative juices flowing ;). So, I'm hoping chapter 4 will be up tomorrow, but I make no promises. I don't think there will be too much drama in the chapter, but the chapters to come will be drama filled. So, if you like this story favorite it and REVIEW. I wanna see a whole lot more reviews before I put more chapters up! Reviews keep me going and make me wanna write and post the stories more often lol. Thanks so much! -B!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: I'll Always Be There, I'll Never Leave Your Side**

Nate crept into Serena's room. Serena was sleeping peacefully in her bed. She looked so beautiful, thought Nate. Of course, she always did. He sat down in the chair next to her bed and grasped her hand. She stirred

awake, and looked at Nate. There was a sadness in her eyes, but he couldn't pinpoint why.

"Is everything okay, S?" Nate asked her.

"How's Tripp?" she answered back with a hoarse voice.

Anger boiled in Nate. Why after everything he'd done to her, was she still wondering if HE was okay?

"Yes, S, he's fine. You do know he _left _you in that car by yourself until the paramedics came right?"

"Yes, I know. I didn't mean if he was okay in that sense. I meant is he okay with me going back to New York, to be with…" she trailed off.

Nate looked down at his swollen hand and smirked "I think he'll be a-okay with your decision."

She smiled a small smile. "I love you Nate, and thank you so much for coming to my aide. You saved me from hell, and I owe you a lot. I know now the right choice was to not get into that car that night. I should've

stayed with you. For that, I am a bitch. I'm so sorry Nate. Maybe," she started sobbing, "if I hadn't gotten into the car, I'd have you."

Nate was taken aback. So many things were wrong with what Serena had just said. His eyes widened and he said "S, for one: you're welcome. I would've traveled the ocean to get to you. For two: you were never a bitch.

You were doing something you thought was right. And I cannot blame you for your decision. And for three: You've always had me Serena. You've had me wrapped around my finger since we were seven. I love you and…

and.."

"And what Nate?"

"And I want you to be mine. I promise I'll _always _be there for you; I'll never leave your side. No matter what happens in our lives, I'll help you through every part of it. Whether it is big or small, I'll be there. I wish

you could see how much I TRULY love you, and how happy I always am to see your beautiful face. I wanna wake up beside you every morning and just be so thankful that somebody like me could end up with someone

like you. When you're sad, it kills me and I wanna try everything in my power to make you happy again. Nobody deserves someone as good as you, not even me. But I promise to try my hardest to be the person you

need. Serena, you make me a better person, and my life is brightened by you. Please, make me an even happier person and be with me."

Serena was in tears by this point, and shakily replied "Nate, _you _make _me _a better person. Let's face it, I'm a fuckup and I always seem to make the wrong choices. But with you around, I actually do something right for a

change. I love you with all my heart Nate, and of course I want you to be mine. Yo-you make ME happy. And I love you. I cannot say it enough. I love you, I love you, I EFFIN LOVE YOU! But I'm exhausted and would like

to sleep." And with all her energy, she leaned up and gave Nate a passionate kiss and whispered one last thing, "and just as you'll always be there for me, I'll always be there for you too." At that, she laid her head down

and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Nate felt like he was having an out of body experience. He felt high, like he was fifteen feet off the ground. His heart swelled with happiness. Serena Van der Woodsen, _the _Serena Van der Woodsen, loves _him_, Nate

Archibald. He had the most beautiful and lively girl in all of the Upper East Side. He didn't know what to do but kiss her lightly on the cheek and curl up on the chair next to Serena's bed with his jacket around him and go

to sleep.

As he was drifting off to sleep, he couldn't believe how his day went. It started out with a phone call, and now he was all the way in Washington, sleeping next to the woman he adored. He didn't care he was uncomfortable

in the chair. He would like nothing more than to be next to Serena uncomfortable, then to be anywhere else. He grabbed her hand and held it tight, never wanting to let go. He slowly drifted off to sleep too.

* * *

**A/N: **_Yay, chapter 4! It was really fluffy in this one. A lot of people wanted a more happier chapter, so I made one. Let's just say it's the calm before the storm. Sorry it was so short, it was just a little happy chapter. It's not my best, but I swear the next one is going to be amazing-and longer. But I need reviews if I'm going to make the next one. I'm almost all caught up in school so-not making any promises-but chapter 5 could possibly be up by tomorrow! I need to see a little bit more reviews though! I have a lot of good ideas for the next chapters to come, so keep a look-out! for those who have been reviewing-THANK YOU! For those who read my story but don't review-REVIEW! It makes me happy and keeps me going. Thanks for all the support thus far in this story! Stay tuned for more! Thanks-B!_


	5. Chapter 5

**I'll Always Be There**

**Chapter 5: Hidden Secrets**

It had been two months since Serena had gotten out of the hospital and went home. Life was going smoothly for her, and she was happy to be back home. She had explained to Dan what had been

going on, and she and Blair had patched things up. She had even admitted to being wrong. She had to patch things up with Blair-because she still had the blow out with her mother about her father,

whom she hadn't in many years-and had to stay with Blair. She wasn't staying at Nate's apartment because both wanted to take things slow, and moving in with him wouldn't be following that rule.

Serena opened her eyes as the bright sun began to peer in through her window. She smiled as she heard the hustle and bustle of New York City nineteen floors below her. She turned over and began

kissing Nate softly, so as not to disturb him. But the moment her lips reached his cheek, he began to stir, and then turned to face Serena, a big cheesy smile plastered on his face.

"Hello, my darling. Last night was fun-wasn't it?"

"Haha yes, very very fun." Serena replied, remembering last night. Since she'd been home, she had been to exactly twenty parties in the last two months. It was what Serena craved. And every night,

her and Nate would come home and make love for hours on end. It had even become a game-who was louder at lovemaking. It was naturally her and Nate against Chuck and Blair. Of course, nine

times out of ten Chuck and Blair won.

She smiled again and then began kissing Nate and before she knew it, they were making love once again.

An hour later she got up and headed to the kitchen. Nate followed closely behind. He leaned against the counter as he watched Serena open up the fridge. He expected her to get out the ingredients

for her famous French toast, but instead she pulled out a fat free strawberry yogurt.

"What happened to 'Serena's special French toast' that you always make us on Mondays?" Lately, her eating habits had him a little worried.

"I've gained weight lately."

Nate raised his eyebrows. "Serena, come on your skinny as hell. It's natural to gain a little extra weight here and there. Your healthy as a dog." He smiled but she didn't listen.

"Nate, I've gained a _lot _of weight. I don't wanna get all fat. So, I'm watching my weight." She lowered herself to a whisper, "at least I'm not like Blair…bulimic. I eat, just healthier foods."

Nate looked Serena up and down. She had gained a few extra pounds in her stomach area, but it wasn't anything too noticeable. In fact, had she not pointed it out, he never would've noticed.

"Sweetheart, your weight's just fine. And if it's any consolation, I will love you no matter how big you get. And in fifty years when your hair is grey and your skin is all wrinkly, I'll still think you're the

most beautiful woman in all of the Upper East Side."

She scrunched her nose up. "Grey hair…wrinkly skin? Nuh-uh, I will dye my hair blonde until the day I die and buy the most expensive wrinkle crème I can buy to prevent that stuff from happening. But

thank you hun for saying all those uber nice things." And then she, for the millionth time that morning, kissed Nate. She loved kissing him, and knowing that he was with her. What made her even

happier was that he didn't fight kissing her, or pass up sex with her. And he never kept her locked up in a house for 12 hours. They began kissing passionately and for awhile, moaning loudly in the

process. Nate whispered "ready for round three?" There was a frenzy of making out between the two, and it was getting loud. In the next room, they heard Blair screaming out stuff like "Oh Chuck,

harder HARDER" and "Oh yea, Chuck, that's nice."

Serena laughed and said, "Leave it to Blair to out-do us…again!" They stopped and just listened to the moans and shrieks of Blair.

"Damn, they must be having some fun in there, I've never heard Blair moan that loud, not even with-"

"Okay, that's enough, Nate! I do not need to hear any stories of you banging my best friend." She meant what she said, not out of jealousy, but of not wanting to be scarred the rest of her life. She

started walking to Blair's room and knocked on the door. "Blair, jeeze calm down me and Nate are done playing the game. You guys win. Now stop before we're scarred." But the moans kept coming

and finally, bracing herself for what she was about to witness, Serena opened the door to yell at her friend. To her surprise, Blair was sitting on her bed reading a fashion magazine, still shrieking and

yelling sex noises. She looked up. "Ooooohhh-well…do you _mind?" _

"B, seriously? You had to cause that much of a raucous and Chuck's not even here?"

Blair sighed and beckoned Serena to her. Serena made her way to her friend. "Chuck's been distant lately. Everything we had is…fading. The magic is losing, well, its magic. Is it me, S?" Serena had

been trying to listen to Blair, but her mind kept wandering. What if Nate started losing interest in her, especially now she was gaining weight. She was scared of this, and all of a sudden had a huge

urge to throw up. She ran to Blair's bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Blair rushed in. At first she was angry. "Why after I tell that story you puke." But after seeing

Serena's face, she knew something was up-and it had nothing to do with her story. "What's wrong S?"

Serena wished she could blame the puke incident on thinking Nate would leave her, but she thought she knew the real reason-and feared it. Her period had been almost a week late, and her sudden

weight gain-in only her stomach region-just added to her fears. "Bla-Blair. I need you to go get me a pregnancy test."

Blair's eyes widened and she sputtered, "S, your nineteen, and not even in college. You can't be…I thought Nate used protection. You can't be…this can ruin your life."

Serena was already a train wreck and Blair blabbing on wasn't helping. "Listen, B. Please don't give me a lecture about this right now. I'm already nervous as it is. And if I can recall, I'm not the only

one who's had to use a pregnancy test before. At least I'm out of high school…"

"I was never pregnant S, you know that."

"I was there for you B! That's the point! Can't you be here for me too? Don't you think I'm already stressed out as it is! I don't need you to keep reminding me, just go get me a test!" She started

sobbing. This can't be happening to her, not now that her life was finally beginning to be perfect.

Blair leaned down and gave Serena a tight hug. "Your right, S. You were there for me, and now I'm going to be here for you. No matter what the test comes out to be. I'll be back in ten minutes."

Serena gave Blair a small smile and said "Thanks, B. I don't deserve a friend like you. Oh and…keep this between you and me. Don't tell Nate under any circumstances." Blair nodded and headed out.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The timer was four minutes in already-three more to go. It seemed like an eternity for Serena. She didn't want to think about it, but she had to in three more minutes. She didn't know what she would

do if the test turned out to be positive. She never saw herself as being a mother. She was too carefree to be responsible for someone else. She desperately prayed to God that there was no baby in

her uterus. But all the signs-her weight gain, late period-led to only one possibility. All of a sudden, the timer dinged and her heart jumped up to her throat. "Do you want me to check it S?" Serena

was thankful for Blair's offer but declined. _She _had to be the one who saw her fate. Just as she was about to go look at the test, there was a knock at the door. "Serena, babe, what are you doing in

Blair's room? And what was that ding noise I heard? Can you let me in hun?"

"B! Make him go away! He can't know about this!" Serena whispered.

Blair opened her door just a crack and said "Listen, we are having girl time right now, you need to leave."

"With Chuck in there?! Would girl time translate to a Serena, Chuck, and Blair threesome?"

Blair rolled her eyes, "is that all guys think of? Threesomes? Honestly! Is two people in sex not enough for you pigs?! By the way, Chuck isn't here. He never was. He's out somewhere, I just made up

those sex noises so you guys wouldn't think I was alone. But you need to go have boy time with Chuck…maybe ask him why he's distant towards me and-"

"Blair! Not the time! Just get on with it!"

"Ugh, fine. Just find Chuck and have some guy time kk? This is girl time today. Buh-bye."

Nate gave Blair a suspicious look, "You guys are up to something…I'd ask what it is but I'm not sure I want to know."

Blair smiled, "trust me, you don't"

"_Blair!" _Serena said sharply.

"Well, bye Nathaniel. Off you go. Serena says she loves you!" And with that she curtly shut the door on Nate.

"They're up to something, but I'll find out eventually what it is." He started dialing Chuck's number. "Hey man, I was just out and about and was wondering…."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Serena waited a couple more minutes to check the test until she was sure Nate had left. Now, she crept into the bathroom, towards the test that was lying precariously face-down on the edge of the

counter. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In another second, her life could be changed forever.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She was waiting inside the doctor's office with five other very pregnant women, and Blair. She just kept staring at the wall. She couldn't possibly imagine someone calling her mommy. She sighed. Blair

gently touched her knee and said "that test could be negative still S. Which is why we're here. Those tests still aren't one hundred percent accurate, no matter what they say." Serena smiled at Blair's

attempt to cheer her up. She had cried for an hour straight until Blair suggested they see a doctor to make damn sure there was a baby inside of her. But she knew the test was right. A huge part of

her wished it would be wrong, but she knew it wasn't. She looked across to a woman who had a little newborn in her hands. The women looked tired and scraggly, but she could see the love the

woman had for that baby. And the baby was adorable. Maybe motherhood wouldn't be so bad. She started adjusting to the idea of being a mother, until the newborn let out the loudest, most

annoying wail ever and wouldn't stop. For fifteen minutes she heard nothing but those baby's wails. That got her out of wanting to be a mom real fast. Finally, the nurse called her in. She couldn't get

away from the waiting room fast enough. "You can go into the room on your left ma'am." The nurse said to Serena. She entered and hopped unto the bed thing. She began to look around the room. It

had posters everywhere on the wall. One was of the three trimesters of pregnancy. Another one showed the birthing process. This one disgusted her, and she looked down immediately.

Not long after they had gotten into the room there was a knock on the door. The doctor peered in with a cheerful smile. "Try being in my predicament and let's see if your smiling after it." Serena

thought.

"Okay, Miss Van der Woodsen. What are you in for today?"

Serena had no patience right now. It was quite obvious why she was in here, but she said as politely as she could "Well, doctor, I took a pregnancy test and it came out positive. I just wanted to make sure…"

"Yes, well, those tests are quite accurate these days, but we'll give a look-see to make sure. Now can you please lift up your shirt."

Serena lifted it up and laid back. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and imagined herself somewhere else. She felt the cold gel being applied to her belly, and then the ultra-sound cursor

moving around on her stomach. She took another deep breath and then opened her eyes and looked towards the screen. Just as she had suspected, there was a round dark hole on the screen.

There was a little movement in the middle of the dark hole.

"Now that movement that you're seeing is a heartbeat. You are indeed pregnant Miss Van der Woodsen. I'd say about three months along."

"Wha-umn doctor…I've only been uh, sexually active for about two months now. Maybe the calculations were wrong?"

"Well, with the technology these days, it's hard for us doctors to get this wrong. The size of the fetus is about three months along. Look, there's a spine forming right there. The spine only forms when

a woman is at least three months along. You had to have had sex before that. Anyways, I'll print you off a picture, so you can keep in a scrapbook maybe?"

"Ooh, can you make a copy for the godmother?"

"Sure. Here you go."

The doctor handed Serena one of the pictures. She looked down at it. She was the most scared she'd been in a long time. "Doctor, I-I…don't think I can do this. You know, be a mother."

"Well, there are options. Abortion and adoption…if you would like to go with abortion, it'll have to be soon, because your window of opportunity will be gone. If you go with adoption, it's wise to start

looking at families early in the process, so as to find the perfect one for your baby. If my word counts at all, I think you can do it. Not only that, but I think you'd be a perfect mother too. But it's

ultimately your choice. I'll leave you two alone. When you are ready, you can go see the receptionist at the front. She'll schedule you another appointment." The doctor gave Serena one last small

smile and walked out the door.

She looked down at the photo again. She couldn't abort the baby. She just-couldn't. She wanted so desperately to go with adoption, but after meeting her half brother-the one her mom had had when

she was about Serena's age-she didn't know if she could do that. She could only imagine what her mother went through with all that. Even though her mother and she had butt heads constantly, she

had ended up exactly like her mother. She knew now who to go to for her problem.

"S, you can't get an abortion. You just can't! That's my godson or goddaughter in you. And I don't think you should do adoption either. I agree with the doctor. You can do this, and you'll be a great

mother!"

"My mother went through all of this. Maybe it's time to make peace and ask her what I should do."

Blair nodded and then remembered something. "S? The doctor…he said you were three months along. You've only been home for two months. You didn't…you know, do it with Tripp?"

Serena's heart skipped a beat. She had almost forgotten her rendezvous with Tripp. And the few times they DID have sex, were unprotected. It was worse enough that she was carrying a baby…but

carrying _Tripp's _baby? She turned to Blair. "Oh god, Blair. It can't be it just can't!"

"S! Your usually so careful about using protection! What were you thinking? I mean having Nate's baby is one thing, but having Tripp's?"

"Listen, B, you can't tell anybody okay? I'll eventually have to tell Nate about this but until I get a DNA test, he'll believe it's his. Understood?"

Blair nodded and they headed out of the room.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Serena had been home for three hours now, pacing around the room, trying to think of ways to tell Nate she was going to have a baby-a baby that might not even be his. Again, another strong urge

to yak made her run to the bathroom, and she threw up once again into the porcelain toilet. Just as she was about to stand back up again, she saw Nate standing right there in the bathroom's

doorway.

"You SWORE to me you weren't bulimic like Blair! You lied! Can't you see how beautiful you are, babe?"

"Hun, I can explain!"

"Explain what? That you think you're fat so you're throwing up your food in an effort to lose weight? I'm getting you help!"

Serena grabbed Nate's shoulder and made him face her. "It's not a bulimia problem, okay? I can promise you that. But I just-I don't think I can tell you what's really going on right now." She started

crying.

Nate scooped Serena up into a hug. "Babe, you can tell me anything. Remember I said I'll always be there for you? Well, I meant it. So spill the beans missy."

Serena gave a half-hearted smile, took a deep breath, and sputtered "I'm pregnant!"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: **_So this was chapter five. It wasn't up as early as I said but it was up a lot earlier then I was going to put it up. But after watching Gossip Girl yesterday, it got my creativity flowing and I decided I should write this. It was deff dramatic like I promised. So do you guys think Serena will end up telling Nate the baby might not be his? And if it isn't, how will Nate AND Tripp take it if she tells them? The next chapter will involve Serena's mom and Serena will make her choice as to what to do with the baby. So how am I doing so far? Is this turning out to be a good story? Im really likeing where this story is going but I want to know if you guys like it too. If you don't, what can I do differently? And if you have some ideas about where to take this story, please don't hesitate to tell me! Also, I'm kinda sorta following the episodes. Like the part where Blair is faking her noises. It wasn't exactly how the scene went but it was close. And I probably won't get into the whole Chuck and Blair breakup and stuff. For this story, they'll probably end up staying together. This is a Serenate story, not a Chair story, so it won't have too much of them. But I am gunna continue to go along with the episodes from the story as best as I can. Anyways, thanks for coninuing with the constant support. Keep it Up! -B!_


	6. Chapter 6

**I'll Always Be There**

**Chapter 6: Motherly Advice**

Serena stared at the door in front of her, unable to knock. After talking with Nate the night before, she knew it was the right thing to do, but it had been three months since she'd seen or even talked

to her mother. Things had gotten so bad between the two; she feared this would make it even worse. The last thing Lily wanted was for Serena to end up like her, and Serena had done just that. She

kept replaying last night over and over in her head.

_**Flashback**_

"_I'm pregnant!"_

_Serena could see the shock on Nate's face. He stood in place for minutes on end, until finally he cleared his throat, and gave the greatest smile he could attempt. "Well, S, we'll uh...we'll make it through this _

_okay? I'll be there for you every step of the way; from your funky cravings, to rubbing your swollen feet, to seeing my son or daughter being born. Wow…I'm going to be a daddy."_

_Serena felt a pang in her heart. The chances of the baby being his were slim. She was about to tell him that the baby might not be his, but then she thought about how much he hated Tripp. What would he do _

_if he knew the baby wasn't his? She doubted he'd stay with her, and she couldn't do this on her own-no matter if she chose adoption or to keep it-she just couldn't be without Nate in this process. So she bit _

_her tongue and concluded that she'd tell him later…much later. "Nate, thank you so much. I'm going to need you through everything. I think...I'm going to tell my mom about this. She's been through the same _

_thing, and she gave up my brother for adoption. I think maybe…that's what I want to do."_

"_Serena…I'm happy you want to mend things with your mother and talk to her about this, but I _know _we can do this, and be great parents-"_

"_Ugh, people need to stop saying I'm going to be a great mom. I never even thought about having kids-even when I'm thirty-and I know for a fact I wouldn't be a good mother. I party every week…I'm very _

_incapable of caring for someone. Hell, I can barely take care of my own damn self."_

"_Yeah, its gunna be hard but S, but I know deep down inside of you that you don't want to give that baby up for adoption. I also know you're great with kids. You've had to practically raise your brother, and look _

_at how great he turned out. I also know that that is not only your baby, but it is also _mine _so I have a say in this too, and I say we raise it together-and be a family."_

_Serena started crying. Nate was so cheesed to be a father-to someone else's kid. But Nate had one thing right: she would keep the baby in an instant if it really were Nate's. But the fact that it was most likely _

_Tripp's made her not want it. She would probably never tell Tripp the baby's his, and Nate would raise the child thinking it's his. Serena just couldn't live with that guilt. _

"_I don't know what to do Nate; which is exactly why I'm going to talk to my mother. She knows better than anyone what I'm going through. She'll help me. And I need you to understand and _respect _my _

_decision Nate. I need you to just support me in whatever I decide…can you do that for me?"_

_Nate sighed. He didn't want to agree with her, but Serena always got her way, and it was no use to argue. He smiled half-heartedly and nodded. He hoped and prayed that Lily would beg Serena to keep the _

_baby, like everyone had thus far. He knew the baby would complete his perfect family. And he could marry Serena in the process, and they could have many more children. He knew once Serena held that baby _

_in her arms, she would fall head over heels for him or her. He sighed once more and said, "Well, sweetheart, it looks like you have a big day tomorrow. We should head to bed. Night my darling" and he wiped all _

_of Serena's tears away and kissed her softly on the lips. Then-hesitating at first-he leaned down to Serena's stomach and kissed it too. "Goodnight little Archibald; I cannot wait to meet you. Now both of you get _

_some rest, and stop crying, S. Everything will be okay."_

_Serena rolled the opposite way of Nate, so he couldn't see her silently crying again .If only he knew. She rubbed her hand over her stomach. "Goodnight little Van der Bilt."_

Serena had been a nervous wreck ever since. The things Nate said were the sweetest things a boyfriend could ever say to his nineteen-year old not-ready-to-be-a-mother girlfriend. Too bad he didn't

know the truth. She inhaled deeply and knocked on the door. It was now or never to get her problems figured out.

Lily opened the door, expecting it to be the room service she had ordered an hour ago. "Well it's about time you've got here, I was expecting this thirty minutes-Serena? What…what are you doing

here honey?"

"Erm, we really need to talk. We need to patch things up and also-I need your help."

Lily let her daughter in and gestured towards the couch. She wished when her daughter asked for help it was as simple as boy troubles or what to wear to the next big dance; but not Serena's

problems. Hers were always much bigger.

"What do you need darling?"

"First off-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stormed out on you when you kept that letter from me. It was just that I had spent months looking for dad and when he sent me that letter and you kept it from

me…regardless I'm sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my bitchiness."

"Why, Serena, I have forgiven you a long time ago. I was waiting for you to come back so I could hold you in my arms again. I wanted to call you when you left New York. I wanted to tell you what a

mistake it was to leave with Tripp. But I knew you'd want your space and I gave it to you. But I was beginning to get worried when it had been three months since you'd contacted me. I'm so happy

you came here today Serena. I love you with all my heart."

Serena couldn't help but start tearing up at this. Would her mother still love her after she told her what was going on? "On to other things…I need your advice and help. I know what I'm about to tell

you won't make you happy but it needs to be said and I need your motherly advice so…here it goes. I'm pregnant. Not only that, but I don't even think its Nate's. I think its Tripp's. I wanted to give it

up for adoption, but I wanted to know what you went through when you gave up my brother. You were about my age weren't you? I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm desperate for help." Serena's

eyes searched her mother's face. She couldn't tell if her mom was upset or surprised.

"Well, first things first; did you talk to Nathaniel about all this? Is he willing to support you?"

"I told him I was pregnant. I didn't tell him I might be pregnant with his cousin's baby. I was going to wait until I got a DNA test. But yes, he's supportive."

"Hmmm…well, honey, maybe it would be best to tell him everything. That way you can make sure he'll stay with you through thick or thin. Even if it turns out to be his, it's nice for him to know the

whole truth. But, I guess the question here is what do _you _think is the right thing for you? After all, this is your baby and a life you may have to care for for the rest of your life."

"That's why I'm here. How was it giving up a child of yours?"

"Honestly, Serena. I regretted it. Once I held that baby boy in my arms I fell in love with him. But I, like you, was only nineteen years old and just couldn't be a mom at that point in my life. However,

unlike you I didn't have anyone to support me through this. You on the other hand have a best friend who I'm sure is excited to be a godmother, you have a loving boyfriend ready to care for this

baby, and you have a mom who would like nothing more than to be a grandmother. You have a whole army to help you through this and I know you can do it. But, it's really your choice dear. Nobody

can make-and live through this decision-other then you."

"Wow, you really want to be a grandmother?"

"I'll admit I was hoping you wouldn't end up in my predicament. But, the past cannot be erased and I've already lost a son from adoption. I don't want to lose a grandchild either. But you're the mother

of this child and I cannot make this decision for you. I am, however, here for you every step of the way."

Serena had never heard that great of advice from her mother. She was still uncertain of her choice as to whether to keep the baby or to give it up for adoption, but upon hearing her mother's advice, it

made the decision a lot easier.

"I still don't know what to do. After hearing your advice, I want so desperately to keep it. But I fear every time I look at him or her, it will remind me what a mistake I made."

"Serena, let's get one thing straight. Getting into that affair with Tripp was a mistake-yes. But that child is not. No child is a mistake. The mother and father who made the wrong choices at the wrong

time made the mistake. But it is not the child who is the mistake. Yes, honey, you made a mistake. But looking at your child will not remind you of that mistake. When I look at you, I do not see the

mistake of your father and I. I see a beautiful, independent young woman who is smart and talented. Yes, your father left us when you and Eric were young. But I do not see the mistakes I made in

you guys, just as you won't when you look at your son or daughter-no matter how much he or she looks like their father."

Serena knew her mother was right. Well, everyone had been right. She could do this, and she could even be a good mother. It would mean sacrificing parties, and not thinking all about herself, but it

could be done. Why give up her son or daughter just because she had made the mistake in sleeping with Tripp? She couldn't take it out on her child. Although she still didn't feel the immense love for

this child as her mother felt for her and Eric, or that mother in the waiting room with her newborn, she did feel closeness to the baby, growing inside of her.

"Mom thanks so much. I…think I can do this. And I think I can be a half decent mother in the process. And I have Nate to help me through this. I think I'm going to keep it." Serena looked down at her

stomach, then up at her mother and started smiling. She saw her mother with the same smile on her face. As if reading each other's minds, they hopped off the couches and embraced each other in a

hug. "Serena, I know I don't say it much, but I love you with all my heart and I'm proud of you. I promise I'll be here through everything."

Serena stepped back and looked at her mother. The next few months leading up to the baby's birth were going to be hell, she knew. But in this moment she was finally happy again. She wished she

could stay in this moment for eternity.

**A/N: **_Whaaa? Chapter 6 put up meer hours after chapter 5?! Well I've been getting really nice reviews and a lot of people have been favoriting this story so this is my gift to you! See? Told you it keeps me going when people take the time to read and review my stories! So I wanted to show you guys I appreciate that by putting up chapter 6 asap. Plus, I got a burst of creativity so I had to write this. So, what did you guys think of this chapter? Serena mended things with her mom, her mom is going to support her-as well as Nate!-, and shes keeping the baby! So how will the next few months in the pregnancy go? To tell you the truth, Idk what I'm going to write for the next few months of her pregnancy. I know in one of the chapters it'll have the baby's sex and naming the baby, but Idk how to form that into a halfway decent and long chapter haha. So if you guys have an ideas about where to take this, please please tell me. I want chapter seven to be great but i have absolutely no idea where to take it. Anyways, keep reading and keep reviewing and I'll start pumping out chapters haha. Thanks so much! -B!_


	7. Chapter 7

I'll Always Be There

**Chapter 7- Baby Blues**

Serena was nearly eight months pregnant and sick of it. She could barely see her feet over her protruding stomach, her ankles were swollen to sickenly proportions, and her cravings changed every five minutes. She sat on Nate's and her king sized bed, ringing the little bell he had given her for when she needed him.

"Yes, my darling, what shall it be _this _time?"

"Don't give me that lip Archibald, you know I can't help my constant hunger."

"That's not the only thing you can help," Nate muttered under his breath.

"What was that, sweetheart?"

"Oh ummmmnnn, nothing S, what do you need?"

"I am totally in the mood for a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Oh and could you bring me some kettle cooked BBQ chips too? I've been craving those kettle cooked chips for awhile now."

Nate's heart sank. They didn't _have _kettle cooked BBQ chips. She had made him go out yesterday and buy sour cream and onion Pringles. So now, he would have to go out and buy stupid kettle cooked chips and banana's while he was at it because the other ones they had had gone bad. As much as he would've loved to protest and tell her to crave something they actually had in their house, he knew better than to. He had already been yelled at enough by his hormonal girlfriend that he didn't quite feel like going through that a second round.

Twenty minutes later Nate came back into the room with a big bag of BBQ kettle chips (which took him forever to find, because apparently they were the chosen chips of the Upper East Siders) and a well made p b and b sandwich. Serena looked at it disgustingly. "I tried calling you babe, I changed my mind. I actually wanted a hotdog drenched with ketchup and mustard; should've answered your phoneeeee," Serena sang.

Nate couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't receive one text message or call from her, he would've known. He had had enough and put his foot down. "S, for the past 8 months I've been your servant. I know you are with child, and I know what you must be going through right now, but I cannot keep running around to get you odd and hard-to-find food items when we have perfectly good food here."

Serena gave him a look as if to say "I'm sorry" but then changed the expression to anger. "No, Nate, you cannot POSSIBLY know what I'm going through right now. I have the most disgustingly swollen ankles, a baby that kicks me every hour on the hour-HARD-and I have gas every ten minutes. So, if your girlfriend asks for a hotdog drenched with ketchup and mustard, you better damn well get it for her!"

Nate sighed, and began rubbing Serena's belly affectionately. "Baby, I cannot wait till you arrive."

Serena saw how worn out Nate was and finally softened up. She gestured for him to come snuggle up with her. He was happy to oblige.

"So, S, have you figured out any names for her yet?"

Serena remembered three months ago when they went in to see what the sex of the baby was.

"_Well, how are you doing, Serena? Any complications thus far?"_

"_No doctor, everything is just perfect."_

"_So are you ready to see the sex of your baby or would you prefer to wait?"_

_Serena looked at Nate. They had discussed the night before that they fully intended to know the sex of their baby, so they could start doing the nursery (Blair and Lily could not wait to start the nursery so they insisted that Nate and Serena find out the sex immediately). "Yes, we definitely want to know the sex of the baby." Serena laughed._

_As the doctor put the gel on Serena's belly and put the monitor to her stomach, Nate was overwhelmed by joy as seeing his child for the first time. The baby was beautiful, even on an ultrasound. It was definitely a bi-product of Serena Van der Woodsen. His thoughts were interrupted by three words uttered from the doctor._

"_It's a girl…congratulations Miss Van der Woodsen and Mr. Archibald. She looks to be in great health and should arrive by September. I'll print up some sonogram pictures so you can give some out and keep some."_

_Serena glanced over at Nate to see a big goofy grin plastered on his face. Once again there was a twinge of sadness when she looked at his happiness. _

"_A baby girl….I was actually kind of hoping for a girl. I mean, their more tough on daddies, because you have to keep them away from boys and make sure their legs are crossed at all times and stuff. Especially since this baby's mommy is the most beautiful woman in the world. She's bound to take after you S." Nate leaned toward Serena's stomach and whispered "Your going to give daddy one hell of a time in your teenaged years, aren't you?"_

Serena couldn't help but laugh at that moment in time. Everyone was ecstatic that Serena was carrying a girl, but even more happier were of course Blair and Lilly. As much as Serena knew they would be happy with anything, she also sensed they were probably praying for a baby girl. The baby would no doubt be trained by Blair to be the next Queen B (she had already gotten an assortment of baby headbands). Serena shook herself out of the flashback and turned to Nate. "Yes, I do have a name_." _

"And what would that be?"

"Salem. It means _peace. _I thought it fit well with what's going on." She had stumbled across the name Salem when watching a documentary on the Salem witch trials. Although she was quite hesitant to name her baby after such a gruesome subject, she liked the uniqueness of the name. After looking up the meaning of the name, she loved it. Peace fit in well with her life right now. Maybe Salem would bring peace to the crumbling family that was Nate Arcibald's family? She knew she needed to tell Nate soon about the whole Salem-being-Tripp's-daughter, and she hoped for the sake of Salem, Nate would keep the peace between Tripp and himself. "What about you, what did you want to call her?"

"Natalie…although I like Salem a lot better; it really does fit with us. She's keeping us at peace."

Serena smiled, her interpretation of the name and his interpretation of it were completely different. "I like Natalie too…how about that can be her middle name? That way, we both get the names we like."

Nate smiled. "Salem Natalie Archibald…it's perfect." But Nate couldn't help but notice the worry on Serena's face. "Oh, damn. I didn't think to ask…would you like her to have your last name? I mean, I don't mind at all."

"No, no I'd rather her have Archibald. Listen, Nate, there's something we need to talk about and it's not going to be easy for me to say, or for you to hear. But I can't keep bottling it in. It's time you finally knew."

Nate's face creased with worry but he hesitantly agreed to listen.

"As you recall, I spent a month living with Tripp. And as you probably also know, we did have sex the few times he wasn't busy…and apparently he doesn't use protection. I guess what I'm trying to say is…I don't think the baby is yours Nate. It would be a miracle if it was. I mean, I was two months pregnant when I found out, when I had only been home for a month. But I want to still take a DNA test once Salem's born to make sure. I also want to state that, I don't love him Nate-I love you. And I don't want you to look at Salem any differently than you did five minutes ago. She is and always will be your daughter, even if your blood isn't coursing through her veins. I didn't tell you sooner because…I didn't want you to leave me all alone to raise her. I didn't want anything to change between me and you, or your future relationship with Salem. Which brings me to another point-Salem's name; I chose it because hopefully, she'll bring peace in more ways than one. Especially now between you and Tripp. I'm not saying you have to be best friends again, but at some point I have to tell him that he may be the father of my child. I know this is a lot to comprehend, and I couldn't blame you if you were to walk out right now, but I hope that you never ever take this out on little Salem, because this has nothing to do with her."

Nate couldn't believe what he was hearing, but at the same time it made perfect always used protection when having sex, to avoid unwanted pregnancies (he just assumed the condom broke this time), and Serena being so far along when she had only been home a mere month with him should've been a tell-tale sign that the baby couldn't be his. He mustered everything he had in him to say "Serena, I give you my promise I will be here for you and Salem through thick and thin. I do love you, and no matter what I'll always love her. This…problem won't change us. I meant what I said millions of times to you-I'll ALWAYS be there for you, and now Salem-I promise."

Nate knew in his heart he loved Serena, and at least she hadn't cheated on him. He hated Tripp more in that point in all of his life though, because Tripp might have taken the one thing Nate had longed for in all his life-a family with Serena.

**A/N: **_Oh man, I was not expecting to put up this chapter at all anytime soon. However, I have been in such a writing and inspired mood today (I posted two chapters up of a new story I had written) that I decided not to neglect this story any longer. You guys have been waiting awhile and I think it was time to put it out. I'm actually pleased with how this chapter came out, considering I didn't know where to take it. So...S finally told Nate about the baby being Tripps. Do you think he put on a mask while telling Serena he'd always be there for Salem, or do you think it really won't affect him? Speaking of Salem, do you like her name? I was always fascinated by the name Salem, and looked up the meaning today. It suprisingly fit in well with the story. So next chapter I'm thinking it's finally time for Salem to make her way into the story ;) much more drama to come, stay tuned!_

_P.S.-If you havent, check out my new story "What Chuck Left Behind"...I should be putting up a new chapter on that one tomorrow. Thanks!_

_-B!_


	8. Chapter 8

I'll Always Be There

**Chapter 8: The Most Beautiful Baby in the World**

Serena was jolted awake by a sudden gush of wetness. She at first thought she wet the bed, but then realized it was her water that had broken. She was two weeks shy of her due date, tonight was not the night to go into labor now. But nonetheless she shook Nate awake "Nate-it's time. The baby's coming. We need to-ouch!- hurry and get to the hospital!" Nate was groggy and disoriented at first, but soon snapped out of it as realization hit-he had to get Serena to the hospital now.

"Ok, S, I have to get the suitcase and the car seat, and then were out of here."

He quickly glanced at the clock- 2:30 am. It was way too early for this. But he grabbed the suitcase and car seat, and they headed into the lobby of the apartment building.

"We need to hail a-arg-cab since we don't have a car."

Great, he forgot about not having a car. He sure hoped there would be a cab at this time of night. Then he remembered they lived in New York City-the city that never sleeps. Of course there would be a cab. He was way too tired to function properly right now. "Ok, you watch the suitcase and car seat and stay inside by the lobby doors. I'll hail a cab and come back to carry the stuff."

Sure enough, it took less than five minutes to get the cab. He saw Serena walking out and quickly ran up to her. "S, you know you shouldn't be carrying this stuff, especially not in your condition now. Come on, get into the cab, I'll take this stuff."

He quickly shoved the car seat and suitcase into the trunk and hopped into the cab and gave the driver directions to take them to the nearest hospital.

It ended up taking them a good forty-five minutes to arrive at a hospital that was only twenty minutes away because of traffic, even at this time of night. But they were finally there. Nate shoved a fifty at the cab driver, telling him to keep the change, and got the car seat and suit case out of the trunk as both he and Serena fast-walked to the Emergency Room doors. He put both the car seat and suitcase down by a chair and instructed Serena to sit there until someone escorted them elsewhere. He walked up to the counter. The lady behind it gave one look, and before Nate could say anything said "I'll send for a guy with a wheelchair to wheel you up to the maternity ward. Here are some papers to sign out. It doesn't have to be done right now, but needs to be done before you leave the hospital. Someone will escort you and your…wife shortly. Please take a seat until then." After handing him the paper, she gave him a look that said 'I gave you all the information you need, you can go now.' He went to sit by Serena, and started filling out the paperwork to the best of his ability, but before he could even get halfway done, a man cleared his throat to alert them that he was there. "Man, everyone is so impatient in this hospital," Nate couldn't help but think. He helped Serena get into the wheelchair, grabbed their things, and followed Serena to the maternity ward.

Ten minutes later they had gotten a room, and Serena was hooked up to a few monitors and was administered an I.V. Nate had finished the paperwork and handed it to the assistant working at the counter in the maternity ward. Luckily, the people on this floor were much more pleasant. He went back into the room to find a nurse talking to Serena.

"A doctor will be in shortly to check where at in your labor you are, and depending on your status-if you'd like-to give you an epidural for the pain. If you need anything, press this button here and one of the nurses will come in immediately to help."

A groggy Serena answered back, "Thank You, Jane, for your help. Is there any way I could get some food to eat while I wait, and maybe an extra pillow?"

Jane gave Serena a sort of sad look and replied, "Unfortunately, until we know the status of your labor and how far along you are, I can't give you any food. The doctor should be in in about ten to fifteen minutes and then go from there. I can, however, get you an extra pillow. Be back in a jiffy!" And with that she was off. Nate was getting irritated; he wanted to know the status of the labor and he could see Serena getting more and more uncomfortable.

"Jeeze, how many babies can possibly be popping out right now? Fifteen minutes? Ridiculous!" Nate retorted.

Serena gave a small giggle and said, "You'd be surprised how many babies are born a day-at any time! But seriously, don't get all crabby. This is how labor goes. Although, I _do _hope I pop this kid out soon. I'm very much done being pregnant," she sighed. She winced again as another contraction hit and then replied, "you need to call Blair, my mother, and your mother. Blair would be pissed if she missed this, and I'm sure my mom and your mom would be disappointed as well. So get on that."

Nate grunted, "at this time of night? No way! Can we at least wait until we see where you are at in your labor and go from there. I don't know if I want to deal with waking up Blair at three in the morning."

"What if I'm only a half hour away from pushing? It took us at least forty-five minutes to here. We need to call them as soon as possible. Please Nate?"

He rolled his eyes but succumbed to her request. He could never say no to Serena, especially not now. "I'll be right outside the door and should be back in in five minutes."

He decided to deal with Lily first, since she would be the easiest to deal with out of the three. He waited while it rang on the other line, until finally a sleepy Rufus Humphrey answered the phone. "Nathaniel, why are you calling at this time? It's," a slight pause, "almost three-thirty in the morning."

"I'm sorry Rufus, I wouldn't call unless need be; and this happens to be one of those moments. Serena went in to labor. She asked me to call her mother. We haven't heard anything from the doc but he should be in any minute now. I'll keep you updated as soon as I know anything, but Serena wants her mom here just in case she could be pushing in the next half hour."

Nate could hear Rufus quietly whisper to Lily before he finally answered back, "thank you Nathaniel for keeping us informed I woke Lily up and-"

"Nathaniel? We'll be there as soon as possible. If I have in my way, in the next half hour. Tell Serena I'll be there soon."

Nate thanked Lilly, who had took the phone from Rufus mid conversation, and hung up the phone. He then called his mom to tell her the exact same. She also promised to be there as soon as possible. Then it was time to call Blair. He was not looking forward to it. She would probably be rude and cranky, or not answer at all, then find out about Serena being in the hospital some hours later and throw a bitch fit about not being in the loop. Her and Chuck has recently regained their "magic" she so desperately wanted, so Chuck might also be there giving him a hard time. He hoped this would go as smoothly as possible.

"What DO you want, Nate? I cannot believe you are calling me at this hour. Don't you know I am in desperate need of my beauty sleep? What are you calling about?"

Just as Nate was about to reply, he heard Chuck in the background taking the phone from Blair, grumbling things he couldn't make out. "This had better be good Archibald, you know how I hate being woken up before ten."

"I'm sorry man, but Serena went into labor and she begged me to tell Blair so she wouldn't bitch."

"Oh, uh, I guess it _is _best you tell her…so here you go."

"Tell me what, Nate?"

"Serena went into labor at two this morning. I just thought since you were the godmother you'd like to know-"

Blair gasped on the other end, told Chuck to get his ass up and moving, and replied back, "We'll have Chuck's driver illegally drive if we have to, I am not missing the birth of this baby! Especially since I got her the best gift ever! See you in no time!"

"Okay see you soo-" but before he could finish the conversation, she had hung up. Nate sighed once more. This was going to be a long day.

Five minutes after he had made the calls, the doctor finally arrived. It was a female and her name was Gail Moretz. She told Serena to separated her legs and began to check out the, uh, situation. Nate didn't really enjoy this part so he just held Serena's hands, waiting for some sort of answer. Finally, Dr. Moretz told Serena she could put her legs down, threw the rubber glove away, and sat down in a nearby chair.

"Well, the good news is you're five centimeters along-about halfway. The bad news is babies have a mind of their own and they'll come out on their terms. So it could be an hour from now or it could be seventeen hours. There's really no way of knowing for sure. We'll check you periodically throughout the day and go from there. Also, once you reach six or seven centimeters, we can give you an epidural if you'd like?"

"Yes, I'd love one whenever possible," Serena immediately replied.

"That's what I thought. Most women opt for the epidural. We will give you it when the time comes. I'll be in in about an hour to check up on you and see how far you have progressed. If you need anything, just call for a nurse," she gave a smile and walked out. Serena turned to Nate.

"Could be another seventeen _hours?_ Nate, there's just no way. I really hope this baby is in the mind frame of 'get me outta here now!' because I cannot handle another seventeen hours of this, let alone another few. Oh, god, what did I get myself into? She's not even born and I'm already going through hell. And we have to deal with it for the next eighteen years? Yikes!"

Nate couldn't help but chuckle, "get some rest babe. You're going to need it in the hours to come. It's all we both can really do at this point."

She nodded and quickly drifted off to sleep. Nate stared at the heart monitor, monitoring the baby's heartbeat to make sure everything was okay. It was rhythmic and he couldn't help but get mesmerized by the constant 'boop boops' of her heart. In a mere few hours he would be a father. Regardless of whether Salem was his or not, he had chosen to stay in Serena's life and support them both; so he would care for Salem-probably for the rest of her life. Personally, he didn't mind if he had to wait seventeen hours…he didn't think he was ready for that commitment. He gently rubbed Serena's belly. He really hoped this baby was his.

Over the next eight hours, both mothers as well as Rufus and Blair (with a not so enthused Chuck in tow) had arrived, all coaxing Serena and helping her throughout her labor. She had finally gotten her epidural and wasn't in _as much _pain. After the eight hour mark, the doctor claimed the baby's head was crowning, and that it was time to push. Lilly was allowed to stay, and they asked if Nate's mother would like to stay too, but she declined. She still wasn't all that thrilled about her son possibly throwing away his future to care for a kid that might not even be his. So Blair, naturally, declared she would be the one to step in as the third (and only other person) to be allowed into the delivery room. Chuck, on the other hand, booked it out of there first chance he got. At first they told her no, because she wasn't related, but because she was Blair, and her manipulation skills were superb, she finally got to stay. Serena reached out anxiously for her mother and Nate's hands, squeezing hard. She was scared to death to push out this baby, but she was done with being pregnant and more than done being in labor, so when the doctor told her to push, she gladly did it full force.

It was a strange feeling-pushing out a baby. It hurt, oh boy did it hurt; but it surprisingly didn't hurt nearly as much as her contractions. She could slightly feel the doctor helping guide the baby's head out. Oh great, only the head was out. She was allowed a small break, but before long, she was furiously pushing again. With each push she could feel the baby slowly ease out of her. She was finally halfway out, and the doctor told her to look down to see her. Serena was so disoriented she couldn't really comprehend what she was seeing, so she just nodded, wanting to give the last few pushes that would get this child out of her. Finally, the baby would be out after one final push. Exhaustion hitting her, it took Serena all her energy to give one last final push, but then…

A big cry, a doctor with a huge smile plastered upon her face, a room full of family members crying, and a tiny little baby placed on Serena's chest. The baby calmed down after feeling the warmth of her mother's skin. Serena was overtaken with various emotions, all colliding into her. For the past nine months, she didn't feel like most mothers would. That saying "a mother becomes a mother when she gets pregnant, a father becomes a father when he holds his child" was opposite. Now that she was there, lying on her, skin to skin contact, she was overcome with joy; only a mother could feel this joy. She was attached to this little girl, in the minute she had came in contact with her. She was hers, and hers alone, and she was the most perfect creature she had ever laid eyes on.

Salem Natalie Archibald

Date of birth: September 4th, 2010

Weight: 5 pounds 6 Ounces

Height: 21 inches

Everybody wanted to hold her and they just looked in wonder at how adorable she was. She was the center of attention, just like her mother. Lilly cooed at her, promising wonderful times with 'gramma Lilly' and Rufus became so fond of her, he almost seemed to be protective of her. Nate's mother even came to when she saw the beauty that was her grandchild-technically. She almost didn't want to stop holding her; but Blair insisted on her turn and told Salem how she'll follow in her godmother's footsteps and be queen bee of the toddlers of upper east side, at least until her daughter came along (you didn't possibly think Blair would put Serena's daughter in front of her future daughter did you?), and even Chuck-who was not fond of kids or babies at all- even stared at her in amazement, and even mentioned to Blair about having a few baby basses of their own. He wasn't kidding either; Blair eventually told him he could go buy a puppy if he was that desperate, but she would not be having 'baby basses' anytime soon. Finally, waiting patiently, Nate got his turn to hold his daughter. He didn't study her features too in depth for fear he would see Tripp (she actually looked like her mother more than anything), but there was no denying she was one breathtaking child to look at. He really didn't want to put her down. However, she started to fuss so he handed her to Serena's waiting arms, but did not stop staring. He wasn't the only one. He thought everyone in the same room was thinking the same thing-she was the most beautiful baby in the entire world they had ever seen.

**S/N: **_I am sooooooooo very sorry I've been M.I.A. for the past year or so. Right around when I was going to put up chapter 8 my computer crashed, and it wasn't until this recent Christmas I got a new one. Then I was so busy with my senior year of high school and graduating I didn't have time for much else. I know, I know, excuses excuses. However, I am back now and happy to be back. I've missed writing my stories. I'd say this is my favorite chapter so far. What do you think? I'm having a bit of trouble deciding where to take this story next so if you have any suggestions that would be appreciated. Also, for those who read my other story "What Chuck Left Behind" I'm hoping within the next few days I'll have a chapter or two put up on there. So check it out! I'm gunna try to be a writing machine, and not leave you guys, my faithful readers, hanging for that long again. So expect a chapter nine up either tomorrow or tuesday. Thanks for continuing to stick with this story even through the wait. I really appreciate it! :)_

_-B!_


	9. Chapter 9

I'll Always Be There

**Chapter 9: Fifty-Fifty**

Salem had officially been on the planet for a day. Serena, Nate, and her were in the hospital until tomorrow before they could be released, so nurses were in and out of Serena's room showing her and Nate various things such as how to change a diaper, how to coddle her in a blanket, and how to breast feed her, among other things. Serena loved the help, but really just wanted to be alone for a good three or so hours without someone coming in and disrupting them or taking her baby to bathe her and whatnot; but she knew when they were home doing a lot of these things by their selves,they would wish they had the help of five or so different nurses. So she took it in great stride. She especially liked being able to sleep in peace because she knew in another day sleep would be few and far between for the next few months. It was even more appreciated because Salem had the highest pitched cry she had ever heard come out of a baby, and was pretty sure Salem was the loudest crying baby in the maternity ward. Sometimes it comforted her, because she could pick out her baby anywhere just by her cry. She sometimes woke from her slumber to hear Salem crying down the hall. Even though Nate was with her, bathing her usually, it freaked her out when she didn't know where she was at first. She had become hopelessly attached to her daughter, and wanted to keep her by her, protecting her, at all times. She always thought she would never be one of _those _mothers, but here she was making sure nothing happened to her precious baby.

At this particular moment, she was breast feeding Salem (she had almost gotten the hang of it!), staring down at her lovingly. She couldn't help but stare-she had made such a beautiful creation it was often hard to fathom. She tried to pick out certain features that would indicate who the father was, and truth be told, she was too blinded by the child's alluring looks to really pick out features that looked like Nate or Tripp. But she often saw Nate wanting to take a closer look, but instead look away quickly. She guessed it was out of fear to find anything involving Tripp. Just like Serena-and everyone else for that matter-Salem had him wrapped around her tiny finger, and he was attached to the baby. Regardless of whom the true father was, Nate would always be Salem's father. But she also knew it would make Nate's world if that was his flesh and blood, and not his cousins', whom he now loathed.

As for Tripp…Serena really didn't know what she was going to do. Right now, her life was pretty good. Bringing him into the picture would rock the boat-and possibly even sink it. She had read a few months ago in a newspaper article online (she really had just stumbled across it, ironically) to see Tripp was "working things out with his wife, Maureen" and that his affair had ended (no one knew who was his mistress, but rumors went around saying it was indeed Serena Van der Woodsen). Both of their lives were falling into place. What would she do if she had to tell Tripp about his illegitimate daughter? She knew at some point, when she took Salem for a DNA test in the next week or so, if she turned out to be his she would have to tell him about her. That was his daughter, and no matter how he reacted, Tripp deserved to know he had a daughter and Salem couldn't go on thinking Nate was her real father forever. It wouldn't be fair to either of them. For now, she pushed thoughts of dealing with Tripp out of her head. She didn't have to worry about that right now. For now, she was perfectly content with how her life was at this very moment. She hoped for everyone's sake Salem was Nate's but deep down inside of her, and the nagging, annoying little voice in her head said Salem couldn't possibly be Nate's.

**GG**

Nate looked down at the tiny human laying in a basinet thing the hospital had provided next to Serena's bed. She was perfect in every sense of the word. Serena had fallen asleep a good hour or two ago. It was, after all, almost midnight. Nate hadn't gotten much sleep these past two days. Everything happened so fast, these past nine months had flown by so fast, and now he was a father. He remembered a mere eleven months ago he was rescuing Serena from her prison in Washington, not knowing what his future looked like, just caring that he had Serena back in his arms and all to himself. If he knew back then what he knew now…well, things probably wouldn't have changed. He was happy to be in Serena's-and even Salem's-lives now. So what if the situation wasn't exactly ideal? He was happy. And for the first time in a long time he could say that and truly mean it. There were road blocks as any relationship had, theirs just happened to be bigger. But with Serena by his side, he could do anything and be the man he always strived to be. Two years ago he was a junior in high school, smoking weed every day and partying with many girls. He hadn't a care in the world except be sure to graduate high school with decent grades. It's amazing that once you become an adult, your perception of the world is altered. Now he was in college and supporting a family.

College…great; he just remembered he was enrolled in a very nice school with a steep tuition that his grandfather was paying for. He didn't know how he could even think about going back as sleep deprived as he was going to be. He could take a semester off-he didn't even really know what he wanted to do with his life, so he was taking useless classes that bored him just to please his grandfather. What would grandfather think of him taking a half a year or so off? He didn't know anything about the whole situation, or that Nate was even dating Serena. Nate's mother refused to tell his grandfather anything, saying it was Nate's responsibility. He had neglected to call grandfather to tell him anything but he knew the reaction would not be a pleasant one. Especially to tell him that he would be leaving school for a whole semester or more to take care of a daughter that could be his cousins', whom grandfather was still not entirely pleased with. He would have to deal with that soon, but for right now, he could care less. His main priorities were Salem and Serena.

He wanted to hold Salem, because it would be the first time that day he actually really got to hold her, but she was sleeping and he didn't want to have her cry and wake Serena up. So he admired her from afar, finally taking the chance to study her features-_really _study them. Every time he tried, he was scared to see Tripp. He began looking her over though, trying to find any indication she might be his. He scanned her body first, trying to find birthmarks that could be significant, or other indications, but mainly he was just scared to study her face right now. That's where you usually see who a child looks most like. She had porcelain skin and the tiniest toes, feet, fingers, and hands. She was a smaller baby, which got Nate kind of nervous, considering her mother was pretty lengthy and Nate wasn't that short either…Tripp was shorter though. He tried not to get too worried about this though, because really it could just mean she was a smaller baby. She _was _born two months early after all. Nate took a deep breath and started to study her facial features. He smiled as she started to open her eyes and he saw Serena's exact eye color. It was as if he was looking straight into Serena's eyes actually. It was also the first time anyone had seen her eyes truly. She mostly always had her eyes closed. He also noticed she had Serena's lips, soft and big and just the right shade of red. Some guy (though he REALLY didn't want to think of it, because he knew when she turned sixteen she would be giving Nate grey hairs even though he'd only be in his mid-thirty's) was going to have a hell of a time kissing those lips. In fact, she was more Serena than anyone.

Suddenly Nate looked to her hair. It fell in wisps on her small head, just slightly curling at the ends. This was sort of insignificant compared to the color of the hair. It was a dirty blonde, unlike Serena's light blonde hair. It was the exact same color as his, especially when he was a baby. Tripp's hair was a shade darker than light brown, and her hair color was no brown. The fact that it also slightly curled at the ends also indicated what Nate's hair was like when he was a child. This detail of the child rekindled a newfound hope in Nate-but that hope was almost immediately dashed when he took notice of her nose and ears. Back when Nate and Tripp were young, they would tease each other about various parts of their body. Nate always took jabs at Tripp's nose and ears. His nose was abnormally large, especially since none of the other family members had a nose even remotely close to the look or size of Tripp's nose. It suited him fairly well, but was still very noticeable. As for his ears, Nate would always call them "chimp ears" because they would stick out (some days stick way out) like a chimp's instead of lay back on the head. His ears got a little better as he grew older, but he was always self-conscious of those flaws.

Luckily Salem didn't have as big a nose as Tripps, and her ears weren't sticking out too much, but her nose looked a lot like Tripp's and her ears did stick out further than most ears. It didn't necessarily take away from her beauty, it worked well unlike Tripp's nose and ears, but if you were to put the two beside each other, one could probably believe Tripp was the father of the child just based on those similarities. Right at this moment, it was hard to tell who could be the father. Nate had noticed she had his cheeks; not exactly fat, but just enough to pinch, and they were the same rosy red as his got. It was fifty-fifty right now.

Unfortunately for Nate, in the almost two days he'd known Salem, he had become so attached to her. For nine months this little person grew inside Serena and her beauty was unknown to the world. It was hard to believe they could only see her grey outline on a small monitor not too long ago. Now, to see her-in flesh and blood and not on that monitor- was one of the most incredible things he had ever seen. She was enticing, just like her mother, and he desperately wanted her to be his. To know he and Serena had made such a stunning human being would make his life. What if she wasn't…could Serena and his future children even compare?

He glanced at a now heavily asleep Serena to make sure she was really asleep so he could tell Salem (although she wouldn't be able to understand it) something that had been on his mind. He whispered softly to the now awake and alert, but not crying, baby. "In case you aren't mine, I'm going to tell you something I've told your mommy plenty of times. No matter what-whether you're mine or not-I'll always be there."

**GG**

**S/N: **_I am loving how on the ball I am, and how easily the ideas are flowing right now. In less than a day I've already gotten some amazing reviews! So thank you for that :) It gives me the motivation to keep trying to produce amazing chapters quickly so keep it up. I dont' plan on stopping or slowing down anytime soon. So, baby Salem has everyone wrapped around her finger. In the next chapter, she'll be brought home, and Serena and Nate will have to face some new challenges as teen parents. Drama will deff insue in the coming chapters so get ready. I'll probably be updating in the next day, so stick around! Thanks._

_-B!_


	10. Chapter 10

I'll always Be There

**Chapter 10: No More Nurses**

Serena glanced at the clock on the hospital room wall-10:30. Nate and she were packing up their things to get ready to go home to start raising Salem by theirselves. Serena was apprehensive about this. She wanted to be a mother in an environment she's comfortable with and out of the hospital, but she was going to miss the constant help at the push of a button and the sleep. Regardless of whether she liked it or not, they were about to walk out of the hospital to face the next challenge of their life. Serena picked Salem up out of the basinet and laid her gently in the car seat they had brought from home. She fastened her in, which Salem was not too fond of. She was looking up at Serena with her big baby blue eyes and gave her a look as if to say "what the hell is this contraption that has me restrained?" She started to fuss but Serena grabbed a binky and stuck it in her mouth, calming whatever fit was about to ensue. She looked to Nate to see if he was ready to leave. He seemed to be distracted and most definitely tired but he saw her looking at her and gave her a small smile and a nod.

She picked up the car seat whilst Nate got the suitcase and they walked out of the room together. The nurses who had helped out Serena over the last few days were starting to gather and say their goodbyes-especially to Salem. The baby was like her mother in more ways than one. The whole world turned their heads to get a glimpse of her. She had that aura about her. The nurses would say things like "goodbye little Salem, you will be missed" or "You were the cutest baby I've gotten the pleasure to take out of." One even went as far as to say "you are too adorable! I would steal you if I had the chance!" That comment made Serena paranoid, so she gripped the car seat as tight as she could…no one would steal her baby away from her-ever.

They had finally gotten out of the crowd and had gone down to the lobby floor to the parking lot. Nate had called for a cab to meet them fifteen minutes ago but Serena could see no taxi in sight. It was fall in New York right now, and not the warmest of weather. Her baby was in the cold and this did not make her happy. "Did you even call? Most drivers would be here by now!"

Nate was tired and in no mood for any attitude from Serena. Irritated, he stated "Yes, I called fifteen minutes ago. Its New York-traffic sucks. We've got to give him some time."

"Yea, it's New York, that's the point. There are a couple dozen cabs every block! They should've sent a cab driver close to the hospital. I'm not giving him any time; my baby is here in the cold when she shouldn't have to be because a stupid driver is late!"

Nate rolled his eyes. He thought he liked Serena better before she was so protective of the baby. "Then take her inside and wait. We don't have to be outside!" His voice was starting to rise.

"We shouldn't have to wait!" Nonetheless, Serena turned on her heel and went inside the lobby. "Tell me when the cab driver finally decides to show up," she spat at Nate.

Nate rubbed his hands over his face, not looking forward to the first few weeks of dealing with both his and Serena's crankiness. That was not a good combination, because both were stubborn in both their rights. He looked around hoping that a cab would show up soon, else he would have to face more of Serena's wrath. Five minutes later he finally saw the yellow car that would get him off the hook. He went to get Serena but she was already walking out, still a sour look on her face. He grabbed the suitcase and placed it in the trunk and slowly got into the cab to hear Serena taking jabs at the cab driver.

"So how cold would you say it is out there today?"

The man, a foreigner, probably from the Middle East, answered cheerfully, "It is 53 degrees out, ma'am. I looked it up on my brand new smart phone! This thing is the greatest!"

The small man was very fond of that phone by the look on his face, and Nate suspected it was probably the greatest thing he had ever gotten but of course Serena had to keep in her mood and be very rude to the man whose only crime was being happy. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I have a newborn that shouldn't be in the cold. But no worries, it's not your kid so what does it matter? Also, stay off that device while you're driving. You will not be endangering our lives just so you can post a tweet about how much you love your crappy phone."

"Serena!"

She gave Nate another sour look, but managed to huff out a "sorry."

The guys' smile wavered, but he answered "I'm so sorry Miss, the traffic was horrendous, and I never get on my phone while driving, so you, your husband, and little one will be in good hands. Let us get you home now; I know you've probably had a long few days."

"…Then how did you check the weather?"

"Serena, just drop it! This man has done nothing but be kind. Thank You, sir. Sorry for my, er, girlfriends attitude; must be hormones or something."

The man chuckled, "I know how that goes. Have four of my own; don't sweat it, sir."

Nate then gave the man directions and they were off. It was incredible, the man still had a smile on his face out of everything Serena had said. He could've been hostile. Nate was very mad at Serena. It was not like her to be this rude to people, especially kind ones. She was always the happy, talkative girl everyone loved to converse with. This was a whole different woman he was staring at. He hoped it was just the hormones and it was just temporary. He didn't think he could stand this new Serena for very long.

With traffic it took an hour to get home, and for the most part everyone was silent, besides the little conversations the driver would strike up, mostly to Nate because he most likely didn't want to mess with Serena. When they got to their building (they had moved out of Blair's place and gotten their own two bedroom luxury loft for fear of Salem being scarred for life from Blair and Chuck's sex rampages), Serena swiftly got her and Salem out, leaving Nate to pay the man. He handed the man a generous one hundred dollar tip for having to deal with the disfunctionality of his family and thanked him for staying calm and happy and got out. He grabbed the suitcase and headed up to the 17th floor. Serena was already up there taking Salem out of her carrier. He shut the door behind him. He wanted to call room service to order food, but decided against it, because he was about to go at it with Serena.

"Put the baby in her basinet, we need to talk."

"Don't tell me what to do Nate, I'm not in the mood. Besides, she's hungry."

"Speaking of mood, why are you in a funk? You were fine yesterday! And even this morning. Why now?"

She looked at Nate, a sad look in her eyes. "I don't think I can do this alone. I had help from five nurses or so, and sleep, and I wasn't alone. Now we have to do this on our own without any help and it scares me Nate. Am I capable of even being a good mother to her? She deserves a good mom. Maybe it's my raging hormones, but I'm scared and sad, but happy and excited the next minute. It sucks."

"Serena, you will be an amazing mom. Just look at the way she looks at you, and how she never seems to fuss when you're holding her. She loves you, and there's not an instance I've seen to make me believe you're not a good mom. You change her diapers in a timely and clean manner, you handle her so well, and the nurse even said you picked up breast feeding faster than most new moms she's seen. Nobody said doing this on our own would be easy, especially since were technically teen parents, but we are doing better than most. Were also really privileged to have the life we have to provide Salem with a good life without struggling. Look at our cab driver; he has four kids and probably barely makes end meets yet he is the happiest man I have ever came in contact with. We have to be grateful for what we were blessed with in life. The way you treated him made me sick to my stomach, S. That was not you, and it scared me."

Serena's eyes started tearing up. "I didn't mean it. He was _such _a wonderful man, but my heart was ice cold and my mind was filled with too many thoughts that I couldn't think straight and I wasn't myself. If I could make it up to him, I would; believe me, Nate, I would."

"I gave him a hundred dollar tip. What kind of thoughts? It's best we talk them over, S, to get the problem solved then hide it and it stresses you out."

She hesitated, and he knew what the conversation might be about. "It's about Tripp…" she faltered, but then continued, "we at some point need to get a DNA test, I know that. I know if it were up to you we would just raise Salem as your own, but that's not the right thing to do. If she's Tripp's he needs to know, and Salem deserves to know the truth when she's older. We can't lie to her Nate. I will let this go for two weeks, but after that were going for the test."

"I'm going to go call for food, what do you want?"

"Nathaniel Archibald. You ask me to tell my innermost feelings and thoughts and then you run away when it's not something you want to hear. That's not fair. Don't be a hypocrite and get over here. We're solving the problem just like you wanted."

Nate didn't want to finish the conversation. Serena was right; if it was up to him Salem would be his no matter what. He knew Serena had a point, but talking about it just struck a nerve. "What if she's his? I never want to look at Tripp again, let alone let him be a part of her life. He was nothing but a bastard and doesn't deserve to get the right to associate with someone as precious as Salem, whether she's his or not. How are you going to tell him anyway? How will that work. I don't like a bit of it whatsoever, and right now I would rather just not deal with it. So, what would you like to eat?"

"At some point were going to HAVE to deal with it Nate so it mineaswell be right now. If she turns out to be his, and he wants to be a part of her life, then for Salem's sake-if you truly love her-you're going to have to deal with him. What about family gatherings when he sees Salem and sees a resemblance? He's going to ask questions, and our web of lies will come back to bite us in the ass. You haven't even told your grandfather _anything _of your personal life. You'll need to deal with that too! We need to start growing up and dealing with our shit instead of hiding it up. Gossip Girl is going to start saying things, and I'd rather people hear it from us than that bitch. Like you said, life isn't going to be easy, but it'll be manageable because, yes, we are blessed to have the life we do. I want to teach my daughter to be truthful, and to not get sucked up in this world. The only way to do that is for us to start changing. We don't have to deal with anything drastic today, or tomorrow, but at some point we need to get out of our perfect little bubble and face our challenges. I have faith that everything will turn out good Nate, no matter what the outcome; because even if Tripp is father by blood, you are her daddy by choice. I'm just scared that if that DNA test doesn't turn out like you want it, you won't feel the same about her. Please say that's not so?"

This was all a lot for Nate to take in, but he replied by saying, "That little girl is my _everything_ now. If she's not my blood, that doesn't mean she's not my world. I have grown so utterly attached to her it's almost ridiculous. She has that effect on people…just like someone I know." He gave a big smile, "I know I have a lot to deal with, and yes that DNA test needs to be taken, and I may not like the outcome, but I will try my damndest to make it work for Salem's sake. But don't expect too much from Tripp if she's his, especially since his life is becoming somewhat normal, for him anyways. Tripp's the kind of guy that is an arrogant prick no matter what, but do him wrong and you'll wish he was an arrogant prick again. He could make your life hell if he wanted to. I just don't want to deal with any of his bullshit right now. You are right though, so that's why I don't mind agreeing. I am serious though, I am hungry, so what would you like to eat?"

Serena giggled a bit, because despite all that he still wanted food; typical Nate. She knew he was done with this conversation, though, even if she wasn't, so she dropped the conversation for now until the time came to worry about that stuff. "Forget room service, I'll make brunch; how about my special French toast?"

They had a lot on their plates right now. What to tell Nate's grandfather-and how much, college and their futures, and if it came to it, Tripp. For now, she was content with just getting on a routine with Salem and live in peace for the time being. But Serena knew that in the Upper East Side, things never stay peaceful for very long.

**GG**

**S/N: **_I realized I made a typo in my last chapter. I ment to say Salem was two weeks early, instead of two months...I guess that's what I get for writing a chapter at 2 in the morning. Sorry about that. Anyways, I wanted to try to get maybe another chapter or two in of just the two weeks of taking care of Salem before they get the DNA test done-what do you guys think? Wait a bit longer or just get it over with? Let me know. Anyways, thank you for all the kind reviews, reading them makes me extremely happy. Keep it up :) I'll get to writing chapter 11 up as soon as possible. Thank you for everything._

_-B!_


	11. Chapter 11

**I'll Always Be There-Chapter 11**

**Sleepless Nights**

Nate quickly opened his eyes upon hearing the baby's shrill cry. He glanced at the clock-4:12 a.m. This was the fourth time that night-or rather, morning-that he had gotten up. This didn't include the three or so times Serena had gotten up since putting the baby down to sleep at eleven. He waited a minute to see if Serena would get up this time; she didn't budge. If he weren't so sleep deprived he might've been okay with this, but now he was agitated. The kid might not even be his and yet he took more care of it then Nate took a deep breath. He was just tired and cranky; S was a good mom and needed her sleep. He got up and picked Salem out of the basinet that was a few feet from their bed to the right. He gently bounced her a few times to stop her crying. Luckily, this almost always worked and before long the little girl was giggling and cooing. "Thank God it's that easy," Nate thought to himself.

Nate went into the kitchen to make Salem a bottle, assuming that's what she wanted. He checked her diaper for safe measure; all was clear there. He maneuvered her into an upright position onto his left side so he could try to fix a bottle with his right hand. This was easier said than done. He didn't put her down for fear of her crying again. The neighbors in the lofts nearby would definitely be happy with that.

After a lot longer than it normally took, the bottle was made exactly how Salem like it (Nate had become a pro at making it to her liking in the past two weeks) and he began walking into her room to feed her in her favorite chair; the rocking chair Nate's mother had given to Salem as a gift. It had been his once and his mother would rock him in it. It, too, was his favorite; it was enjoyable for both to sit and rock in that chair.

Salem hadn't really used this lavish room (thanks to grandma Lilly and Auntie Blair) since she was too young still, and Serena always wanted her nearby, but it was nice at night to feed her. He sat down and positioned Salem into a cradling position again and held the bottle up to her lips. She eagerly opened her mouth and began ravenously drinking. "Damn, the kid had a bottle fourty-five minutes ago and still acts as if she hadn't eaten in days," Nate mumbled. Surprisingly enough, she hadn't even gained much more weight in the past two weeks. You'd think she would weigh twenty pounds by the way she ate.

Nate looked down into the now open and alert baby blue eyes. It was a full moon and it shown into the window bright and spectacularly. The baby's eyes sparkled fantastically, catching the moons light. She sure was a beautiful baby. Nate had yet to find a baby that compared to Salem-and he wasn't just saying that. Maybe he was biased but man, the kid had good looks. And even though she was only two weeks, he could even detect a bit of a laid-back personality-the way she was always smiling and giggling, and was a pretty easy baby. She was the whole package-just like her mama. He laughed a bit, which got Salem to giggle a bit, milk sloshing out of her open mouth. Cute.

He again looked the baby over, just like that day in the hospital, trying to cling to the hope that she would be his. The DNA test date was looming. He had given in to Serena's request to get them done. He knew she was right-Salem deserved to know for sure who her real father was, instead of growing up thinking Nate was her father; but the thought of her not being his agonized him. Raising a child not your own? Obviously he knew it could be done, easily. Rufus had adopted Serena and Erik as his own, and Lilly did the same with his kids. They were, in all sense of the word, a happy family, and though not bound by blood, they were bound even more by love-the love that they had for each other. Nate wasn't at all worried about raising Salem as his own-it just bothered him a bit that Tripp's blood could be coursing through her veins and not Nate's. What honestly made him mad about this whole situation was how just when Nate's life was getting good, Tripp had to come along and ruin it. Every time Nate did something, Tripp had to come along and one up him. When Nate made a volcano for a science project, Tripp made an accurate DNA model. Nate wanted to be the quarterback for a football team outside of school in sixth grade, he worked his ass off the whole week of tryouts, all to get linebacker; but sure enough, Tripp came along and was chosen as quarterback. Nate had always thought it was because he was older, but now he started to see it might be because Tripp had a way of schmoozing everyone to get his way. He was a politician for Christ sakes.

Then when Nate was just about to have Serena as his own, Tripp had to come along and ruin that, too. Luckily Nate had gotten her back; but now, the one thing Nate had always seen himself doing with Serena-making a family-might be ruined now. Did Nate love Salem? Absolutely! And he'd love her no matter who her father was; it just sucked. It wasn't the same family Nate had in mind. What if Tripp DID want to be a father to Salem? Then He'd have to deal with Tripp coming over to take Salem for the weekend, where he and Maureen could fill her head with a bunch of crap, then bring her home all hyper and pissy just to spite Nate. She could end up being a whole different kid in just a few weekends with Tripp. Maybe he was worrying for nothing, but he knew how his family worked, and it wasn't always the most functional. Part of him hoped that if she happened to be Tripp's, he wouldn't want anything to do with her. At the same time, he knew that would hurt Salem knowing her own father didn't want anything to do with her, so part of him wished that Tripp would man up for once in his life and take responsibility of his daughter.

Look at him. He didn't even have the text results and he was already coining Salem as Tripp's. Maybe he knew it all along, from the moment Serena said she didn't know if Salem was Tripp's or his. It was just his luck. He got Serena but he couldn't have it all. He had gone on to accept that if Tripp was ever involved in any of his life, it would not work in Nate's favor-ever.

He took the now-empty bottle from Salem and hoisted her onto his left side to burp her. After a few good burps he decided it was time for both of them to go back to bed. He put the bottle in the sink and gently rocked Salem, walking slowly to the room. By the time he got there, she was dead asleep. He put her into her basinet and kissed her head. He had a feeling this would be the calm before the storm.

**GG**

**A/N: **_I know I said I'd be updating frequently and I am truly sorry I haven't. I went to Vegas for three weeks in june and when I came back there was a death in the family so we had to deal with that. I really am so sorry for the absence. I'm definitly going to try to update a lot more frequently. So chapter eleven, before the DNA test, the calm before the storm. Most of you would love for Salem to be Nate's but I'm sure you know where this story is headed. I promise you I am not going to completely screw Nate, he will get his happy ending I promise. Sorry this is such a short chapter, I just wanted to get one out since you guys have been waiting and I felt bad. Hopefully when I get my creative juices flowing, I'll pump out more chapters that are longer and better. Thanks again for keeping with this, I love you all!_

_-B!_


	12. Chapter 12

**I'll Always Be There-Chapter 12**

**Here Comes Auntie Blair!**

"Serenaaaaaa!"

Nate and Serena looked at each other and both giggled. Blair, as usual, had to make her presence be known to the world. Serena called out, "Blair, we're in the nursery."

Moments later Blair huffs in and gives a curt nod to both Serena and Nate, before cooing and making baby noises to Salem. "You're just in time, Blair, we were about to change Salem. Maybe you'd like to do the honors?" Nate winked at her. Of course they all knew what the answer would be.

"Nathaniel, that's cute. But you know I don't change diapers. I am the auntie. I do the fun stuff with Salem. You two are the parents, therefore you do the grunt work. Do we understand this now?"

"B, what are you going to do when your kid needs fed or changing," Serena jokingly asked.

"That's what nannies are for, S. Quite frankly I don't know why you don't have one. Dorota raised me and look how great I turned out!"

Serena and Nate raised their eyebrows at each other when Blair wasn't looking and shared a smile, but said not a word. "Okay, B, I will change and feed my daughter and then you can do all the fun stuff with her." Serena sarcastically said to Blair as she put Salem on the changing table.

Nate shook his head. Blair took the whole "Auntie" title seriously-and she wasn't even Salem's real aunt. But he shook it off-he'll never understand the behavior of girls.

A few minutes later and Salem was fed and changed and before Serena could do anything else with her, Blair snatched Salem out of Serena's hands and snuggled her. "How is Auntie B's pretty baby? Oh 'Em, you are going to be just like your auntie when you are in high school. You'll be Queen B. have a group of minions following you around, date the _hottiest _boys around, and rule the Upper East Side. Well, until _my _daughter comes around that is. Then you can be second best; how's that sound?" Salem eyed Blair confusedly, her foreheard wrinkled from frowning her baby frown.

"Andddd to get you started, Auntie B got you the one clothing accessory I never went without in High School!"

Nate shook his head. "Oh no, I know exactly what that is." And just as he suspected, Blair pulled out a set of infant headbands-one for every day of the week. And even more absurd was that Blair was showing a three week old baby which band was worn on which day, as if she could understand fashion-or anything for that matter. But Salem watched intently as Blair showed her each band and why it was to be worn on a certain day.

"And since its Wednesday, you wear **this **one today." Blair proceeded to put a light pink band, with a big frilly pink bow on the left side, onto Salem's little head. This did not fly well with Salem, and she began to fuss, wanting that insane thing off her head. "Shhhh, it's okay 'Em. You'll just have to learn to get used to them." Blair cooed, determined to make Salem into a mini B.

"Why do you call her 'Em?" Nate pondered. Blair rolled her eyes.

"It's her nickname. I got it from the last part of her name-SalEM. And Sal is too masculine to call her, so I guess it's 'Em."

Nate chuckled. That was almost the nickname him and Serena called Salem, although they used the 'L' in her name, making it 'Lem. That way no one thought Salem's name was 'Emma' with her nickname. That, and 'Lem seemed so much more original. But, once again, he said nothing.

Serena's cell phone began to ring. She peered at the caller I.D. "It's my mom, probably wondering if she can see Salem today. I should probably get this," Serena sighed before answering with an over-the-top "Hiiii Mom! How's it going?" and walked out of the room.

Blair saw this as her chance to talk to Nate. "So…I thought last week was the week 'Em would get her DNA test?"

Nate rubbed his temples. Were they really about to get into this? He was lucky this whole last week to forget about the stupid DNA test and had convinced Serena to wait until the baby was at least one to two months old. The longer he could put it on the back burner, the better. Nevertheless, he flatly stated "we're putting it off until Salem is a month or two. Why rush, y'know? Even if Tripp is the father, it's not like 'Lem will even understand the whole 'different dad' thing until she's older."

"'Lem? Really? Whatever, we'll talk about **that **sad excuse of a nickname later. Nate, this DNA test isn't just for 'EM'S sake, it's about closure. About knowing the truth once and for all so people involved can take the next step. I know you wish you can just forget about it-pretend it never happened-but it's not the way to go, trust me. I've learned my lesson with that one." Blair eyed Nate, and suddenly he knew exactly what Blair was talking about. He had been in a situation a few years back just like this with Blair when she thought she was pregnant and didn't know if Chuck or Nate was the father. That almost ruined the friendship and broke up Nate and Blair. Nate had no complaints; he wouldn't admit that to Blair, but he definitely was happy to have Serena over Blair.

Nate sighed, same situation, except this time there really was a baby and the "other father" could be his conniving, arrogant cousin. This could cause more than just a scandal on _Gossip Girl-_this could cause a full-on family war.

Silence filled the air for a few moments before Nate decided to speak up, "Listen, I know you're right B-deep down inside I know you're right. But when the truth comes out, my family will be a warzone. Grandfather will be furious-but of course not at Tripp, but at me; even though I didn't do anything wrong. Grandfather will claim I did this to ruin Tripp's campaign chances, and ruined my "bright future" by raising the child. No matter what, I'LL be the one grandfather gets pissed at. Even though I'm doing the right thing, and even though TRIPP is the one who severely messed up and almost ruined his own goddamn campaign, I'll get the lashing. Grandfather always favored Tripp over me; and he always will. I just…can't deal with any of that right now; I mentally just cannot."

With her free hand, Blair gently patted Nate's shoulder. "I understand where you're coming from-we all have dysfunctional families-but pushing it under the rug is just going to make things worse. Don't you have a family gathering in another month or so with your family? What if people start wondering…asking questions. And if you don't go, then people will really start to wonder. You need answers now."

"Yeah, you're right I guess," Nate agreed, though only to stop this conversation from going any further. He had totally forgotten about that stupid annual family gathering next month. And Blair was kind of right-if he didn't show up, people would wonder; but if he showed up with Salem and Serena? People would talk. How did Blair remember that stupid gathering? Oh, right, she went to it with him last year when they were dating. She insisted upon it actually. Anything to show people she was with Nathaniel Archibald-and that she would one day be married to Nate-she took the opportunity. Oh how the times changed. Now she was with Charles Bass-Nate wanted to chuckle at how things have indeed changed.

Serena walked out of the bedroom, apparently quite exhausted from just that ten minute phone call with her mother. "Nate, my mom invited us over for dinner tonight. I tried to get out of it but she insisted…she made a big meal and hasn't seen Salem in over a week so I just didn't have the heart to tell her no. I'm sorry." Serena knew going over to Rufus and Lily's was the last thing he wanted to do, but Nate put on his most dazzling (but obviously fake) smile and obliged. He just had to get through a few hours before he could be in peace again. No eccentric 'Auntie Blair' or Serena's family to deal with. One dinner. A few hours; he could do this.

"When are you leaving? I was going to take Salem shopping! She has absolutely NO good clothes to wear for this thing." Blair demanded.

"What are you talking about, B? She has a closet full. Most of that stuff she hasn't even worn yet! At least give her a chance to wear all of that before you go out and buy her some new clothes," Serena stated. Before motherhood, Serena would never pass up the opportunity to shop with her best friend. Even if she had never worn half the stuff she bought, she'd go back out a week later and buy new things because she felt she had to. Now, after having Salem, her perspective had changed. She only bought what was necessary for her and Nate, and although there was no doubt Salem was spoiled by Serena, she wanted to teach Salem not to be greedy and a brat just because she was privileged. That, and she was just too sleep deprived to go do a four hour shopping spree with Blair. If she had to go to her mother's today, she wanted to rest up before it. Somehow she knew it'd be an interesting dinner; it always turned out to be.

"Oh S, what has motherhood done to my friend? No shopping? This is not the same Serena I grew up with in the Upper East Side," Blair whined.

"How about this, B, next week we can take her shopping and I'll let you buy her whatever you feel she needs or wants. I'll keep my mouth shut. Deal?"

Blair was silent for a few seconds, pondering the deal Serena had just laid out, then stated, "fine, it's a deal. I take it this is my cue to leave now?"

Nate knew Serena was too nice to kick Blair out, but he wasn't. "Yepp, it is. We love you B, we just need a nap before going over to Lily's. Surely you understand."

Blair rolled her eyes, "I can't believe what parenthood has done to you two-the biggest partiers in our high school. You really should think about getting that nanny before you become even lamer!" Before she handed Salem over to Serena, she made sure to over exaggerate her goodbye to her. "Bye bye my little mini me; I pwomise you and I will have that shopping spree and we can get you even MORE headbands for you! And I'll talk to mommy and daddy about your so called nickname-'Lem? You've got to be kidding me, YUCK!" Salem just confusedly stared up at this crazy woman talking to her. What was she going on about? She started fussing and Serena took her out of B's arms. Immediately she stopped and smiled a gummy smile up at her mommy as Blair left.

"And _that _'Lem is your crazy Auntie Blair," Nate chuckled.

**GG**

**A/N: **_I know I've said this a lot in past chapters, but soooooooo sorry again for keeping you guys hanging for yet ANOTHER year. It's been rough. We had two more deaths in the family and I fell into a funk. I forgot about this story for a little bit until I opened my computer and saw past chapters in a saved file. I decided I couldn't give up on the story or all the faithful readers that stuck around this long and decided to pick this back up and do my best to continue this until the end. And I'm happy I did! I've matured in my writing so the next chapters from here on out are definitely a LOT better than the past ones (I really have to chuckle at how incredibly bad some of the first few chapters are haha). I'm in the process of finishing up Chapter 13 right now as we speak and put that one up immediately after I'm done before I head to bed. Is anybody still there? I've seen a few people favorite this, but that was still a month or two ago. If any of you are still interested in this: thanks for sticking around. Words really can't express how much it means to me. Hopefully I can keep updating this regularly until the end. Also, for those who also read my other story-I plan in continuing that as well, but not until after this one is complete...I don't want to get off track. Anyways, I'll stop rambling. Thanks again! Happy to be back(: _

_-B_


	13. Chapter 13

**I'll Always Be There-Chapter 13**

**Dinner At Grandma Lily's**

Salem began to fuss as Nate tried to feed her. Every time he tried to put the bottle in her mouth, she'd turn away and wail. He sighed "so far this night is turning out _fantastic," _he thought sarcastically. They hadn't even arrived at Lily's house.

"Let me take her and try to feed her the good ole' fashioned way" Serena joked. Nate handed her the baby and walked into the kitchen to pour himself some scotch. If he was to make it through this night in one piece, he'd have to have some alcohol in him first. Nate knew that tonight would be interesting. Lily knew about the "who's the daddy" escapade and never ceased to remind the two to get a DNA test **immediately **to find out who Salem's father was-like everyone else. Nate shook it off and just accepted what was going to be said at dinner tonight. Especially when they tell Lilly and Rufus that they've postponed the DNA test for a month or two.

Nate glanced at his watch and yelled to S, "Serena, we've got to hurry. We were supposed to be there twenty minutes ago!"

"I'm coming, I just was making sure 'Lem had enough on. It's starting to get really chilly in New York lately. Don't want her catching a cold or anything."

Nate stared at Serena in awe. A few months ago she was still mad at becoming a mom, but as soon as she saw Salem, that all changed. Her 'bad girl' days were over. She truly was a great mother.

"…What? Why are you staring at me? Do I look bad or something?"

"No, S, I was just admiring the great woman you have become-and an even better mom. I've gatta say it turns me on a bit…"

Serena rolled her eyes but laughed. Then, seductively, she said, "save it for after dinner, tiger. You just said we were late."

"What's a few more minutes? Salem's asleep, we could say we got caught in traffic, no harm done." He pulled Serena closer and lightly kissed her lips, then traced kisses up and down her neck. He knew he had her at that point; Serena was a sucker for light kisses on her neck. You could get her any time with that trick-she'd refuse to say no.

"Well, fine, but I better not have my hair messed up. I don't want my mom or Rufus thinking we've done anything. And we HAVE to be quiet, I don't want to wake the baby." With that she picked Salem up gently and put her in her crib-for the first time ever-grabbed the baby monitor and padded into her bedroom. Nate was already there waiting, half dressed and a coy smile plastered upon his face. It had been a good month and a half or so the last time they did this.

"Unzip my dress," Serena asked, her back facing Nate as he slowly unzipped and undressed his girlfriend. Serena returned the favor by unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his pants. He guided his legs out of his pants, and soon after unlatched Serena's bra. Nate was truly in serenity. All he could do was stare at Serena's now fully naked body. Not an inch of post-pregnancy fat remained. She was as skinny and toned as ever. Her breasts doubled in size from breast feeding (and that was saying something-her boobs were always a really nice size), her blonde hair flowed everywhere, and her blue eyes sparkled in the dim light. Nate was paralyzed from the sheer beauty of this woman-and how lucky he was to have her. He brought her close and gently laid her on the bed, getting on top of her. He vowed he would NEVER let anyone take this girl away from him again; he was far too in love with her. Serena pulled his head towards her neck, and he again trailed kisses down her neck. This time, however, he went further and trailed kisses down her whole abdomen. He stopped briefly at her stomach, remembering just a few weeks ago there had been a tiny child inside there. He then made his way back up to her lips and began fervently kissing them. Nate truly felt blessed that he was lucky enough to call Serena his.

"I know you want to make this romantic, and trust me I appreciate that, but we have _maybe _ten minutes to get this done before we have to leave. So how about we stop with the foreplay and really get things going, because it's been ages since we've had a moment like this. Let's make it count."

Nate had not a problem with complying and readied himself.

"Wait, I'm not on birth control. You're going to have to use one of these," Serena maneuvered her body to reach inside the drawer to pull out a condom, before handing it to Nate, "until I get on a regular schedule with birth control again. I am NOT having another baby for a very long time."

Nate chuckled, ripped the condom packaging open and slipped it on in a matter of seconds-he was pretty pro when it came to putting these things on.

"Okay, now we can officially begin," Serena smiled before kissing Nate again.

Nate kissed back while slowly sliding himself into Serena. He didn't know how it'd feel for her after just having given birth three weeks ago-he didn't want to hurt her. From the look on her face he could tell he was not hurting. In fact, he was being so cautious that Serena whispered into his ear to thrust faster. Once again, he had no problem obeying. He began to thrust back and forth inside of Serena, just fast enough to give them both enough pleasure, but not so loud to wake Salem in the next room. Both had, not only over the past months but over the past years of their previous hookups, gotten to know each other's' bodies pretty well. Nate knew how to make both of them reach orgasm every single time, in any situation. Like now, for instance, he knew he had only ten minutes to get this done, so he knew exactly how to thrust and where to thrust to hit Serena in just right spot in just the right amount of time. He also knew how to last longer if they had a longer session. As he continued to thrust, he knew he was getting Serena right where he wanted her. She involuntarily moaned loudly, out of habit. Nate instantly kissed her to subdue the moan.

"Oh, gosh Nate, I didn't even…realize I was that loud I…oh God…loud I just…it's habit. Because you're just that...oh fuck…amazing." Serena was beside herself with pleasure. She wrapped her legs around Nate to force him to thrust into her harder, taking all of him inside her. Nate was by far the best sex partner she had ever had. Every single time she was guaranteed to reach orgasm with him. He was just that good.

Nate was getting close, and he knew Serena was too by the look on her face; so far, so good. He began to pick up his pace to finish it before time ran out. Thrusting in and out at a good pace, he was just a few thrusts away from cumming.

"Nate…I'm there. A few more thrusts and-" Serena let out a moan of pleasure that she tried to stifle as best she could. She had came. Feeling her insides contract around him made Nate lose it; he followed suit and came a mere seconds after Serena. Nate stayed inside Serena for a few more moments before pulling out and rolling off of Serena. Both we're breathing heavily but both also had goofy smiles on their faces.

"Umn, wow. I really missed that Nate. Remind me to do it more often."

"I have no problem with that," Nate smiled before kissing Serena one last time. "I guess we should really get going this time."

"Oh, shit, yea. Help me zip on my dress please?"

"It's not as fun as taking it off, but sure."

The two hurriedly got themselves dressed, checked themselves in the mirror to make sure they didn't completely give themselves away, and grabbed Salem out of her crib before dashing off to Rufus and Lily's.

**GG**

They arrived at Serena's moms' house forty five minutes late, and as Rufus went in to hug both Serena and Nate together, he whispered into both their ears, "if you want to have sex, make sure it's _after _a planned event," as he winked to them. Serena's cheeks blushed as she was stunned by what Rufus had said. How had he known; was it that obvious? She laughed it off awkwardly. Nate, on the other hand, was on cloud nine. Nothing could bring him down. Having sex before this dinner was the best decision he had made. He clapped Rufus on the shoulder, winked at him when Serena wasn't looking, and went over to where Lily and Jenny were cooing at the baby.

"Grandma Lily misses spending time wif her wittle Salem. How has grandma's wittle baby been?"

Everyone always wanted a chance to see or hold or coo at Salem. Even Dan couldn't help but gawk at her-and he wasn't necessarily the happiest person for how things went down. Back when Nate and Serena told the world they were official after Serena had gotten home from Tripp's prison, Dan was the least pleased. He was planning on getting back with Serena around the time that Nate had gotten her. He knew very little of the hell Serena was in when she was with Tripp, and nothing of the current question of who Salem's dad was. Because of this, he felt a bit angry at Serena. First he saw her be a home-wrecker with Tripp, then she comes back and gets knocked up by Nate? If only he knew the truth. Nonetheless, he still was not immune to Salem's cuteness. She sucked him in like every other person that saw her.

"Shall we eat?" Lilly questioned her family, while still holding Salem. "We have a wonderful dinner waiting!"

Everyone made their way to the dining room. Salem was placed in a basinet Lily had gotten her and set next to Serena. Salem had her very own nursery at Lily's, which Lily hoped would be occupied frequently once she was older.

"So Nathaniel, Serena…how have things been?" Lilly asked. Most would think she was just asking a simple question of how parenthood was going thus far. But both Nate and Serena knew exactly what Lily was talking about. She was subtly being nosy about the DNA test situation.

Serena smiled and calmly stated, "It's going good. We're tired, but I love having Salem. We're adjusting well." Serena stole a glance at Nate, who slightly nodded in her direction to let her know that what she said was perfect. A silence followed after that. All that could be heard was the chewing of food and forks scraping the plates.

Rufus finally broke the silence. "Let's stop beating the bush. What are you doing about the DNA test? A week ago it was supposed to be done. What happened to that?"

"Wait, what? A DNA test? What's this about?" Dan confusedly asked. His questions were overlooked.

Nate was slightly annoyed that Rufus was trying to get into his business. Lily was one thing; she was Serena's mother. But Rufus had no blood relation, he was just Lily's husband. "No offense Rufus, but why is it your business? In fact, how is it anyone but mine and Serena's business?"

"NATE! Don't talk to Rufus like that. He's like a father to me!" Serena snapped.

"I'm just sick of hearing about it; first from you, then Blair earlier today, now this? I'm not trying to forget it! I just wish people would consider how hard this is for me! I love you Serena, but at the end of the day you'll always be the mother of 'Lem. But every night I have to lay that little girl in her basinet-with so much love for her it hurts-and question whether she's mine or not. And the worst part of it? Her possible father could be the biggest douche the world has ever seen-and he's blood. No one can understand my anguish and no one will shut up about it. I know it needs to be done, I know we need an answer so we can take the next step, but I just want to be left alone with this right now! She's three weeks old…she won't need to really know who her father is until she's much, much older. Everyone is so gung-ho about knowing 'for the sake of Salem' but SHE DOESN'T FUCKING CARE RIGHT NOW! She just cares about when she's gunna eat next and who's changing her. So seriously, can we stop?" Nate furiously gets up from the table and walks towards the elevator that will get him out of the loft and into the lobby so he can get some fresh air. Sure, he might have gone too far with the yelling, but everything he said was true and he didn't regret saying it.

**GG**

Nate's outburst left Salem crying and Serena was pissed off that he had snapped like that in front of her family. She began to get up to calm Salem, but Jenny offered for her. Serena thanked her, but wasn't hungry enough to sit back down and eat. She mumbled a quick 'excuse me' and waltzed up to her old room for a bit. She knew Lily and Rufus would leave her alone for a few minutes to gather herself. So she was surprised when she heard a knock at the door; thinking it was Nate to say his sorrys, she opened the door-only to find it was Dan on the other end. "Dan…hey; sorry about all that, things are kind of a mess right now if you haven't noticed." Serena sighed and took a seat at the end of the bed; Dan followed suit after Serena-like the good ole' days when they would sit and talk about anything and everything for hours. He missed those days.

"It's okay…just trying to understand the whole situation. So, Tripp could be Salem's father? Damn, didn't see that one coming. I'm sorry S, seems like a tough situation."

"Heh, you're telling me. I feel bad for Nate, but he needs to understand where I'm coming from. He just gets so touchy when the subject comes up that it's impossible to reason with him. He doesn't understand that I'm doing this for Salem in the long run; no matter how old she is, she deserves to know the truth. So when she questions me on it when she's older I can say I did my best to immediately find out who her dad was. Even if Tripp doesn't ever want to talk to her or see her, at least we'll all-including her-know the truth. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but the cards have been dealt; it's now time to find a way to play them in the best way possible."

Dan nodded but didn't say anything. He moved his hand on top of Serena's. Serena didn't know if it was an act of comfort or if he was trying to get close to Serena in a different way. She searched his face for a sign. He noticed and smiled, as he leaned in and planted a soft kiss onto her lips. Serena was taken aback; she instantly got up from the bed and went towards the window. All she could mutter was, "you shouldn't have done that."

Dan's head slumped-he knew it wouldn't work. "Sorry, S…I didn't mean to do that. It's just-I've missed you…missed _us._ But you're with Nate and I crossed the line." He got up to leave, to get away from the situation he had put himself in. Before he left, though, Serena grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him back. She looked seriously into his eyes.

"I'm sorry for reacting that way, I just wasn't expecting it. Dan, I loved you…in the past. But despite his attitude about this situation and he flaws, I love Nate now. He saved me from the hell Tripp put me through, stuck by me when I was a pregnant teen and scared shitless to become a mother, and he promised me he'll always be there for Salem and me. I can't lose that. Salem may already be in a dysfunctional situation thanks to me-I need her to have a least a bit of normalcy in her life. I want her to look and me and see the woman I have become-not the promiscuous girl I used to be. I want her to know it's not okay to go from guy to guy to guy but to find someone she truly _loves. _And I love Nate, and want to be with him. I know you'll find an amazing girl that will make you the happiest person alive; someone who will treat you right and love you the way you deserve to be loved. But that person isn't me, and I'm sorry about that. I hope you can understand." Serena smiled a small smile and leaned in to give Dan a hug. Dan returned the hug and nodded, understanding what Serena was saying.

"Thanks, S. I got ahead of myself and let it get too far, and for that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. And for the record, you're a great mom and Salem is truly lucky to get to call you mommy. She'll definitely look up to you as a role model. You have a cute kid," he smiled before turning and walking outside of the room.

"Thanks," Serena said before he was out of earshot.

**GG**

Nate walked outside to catch a breather. He knew he'd get shit for blowing up on Serena's family, but right now he didn't care. He'd deal with those consequences later. Nate looked around his surroundings-up at the tall, towering buildings of the Upper East Side. Sometimes he wished he could take Serena and Salem and run to a faraway place where they could forget all their problems and live their lives out in peace and quiet. But he knew Serena could never leave New York…and neither could he he guessed. Still, he wished the problems could disappear and he could live out his life happily with Serena and could call Salem his-truly his. However, with a family get together looming he knew the problem would just continue to rear its ugly head. He sighed, trying to gather his thoughts. He figured he should probably head back up there and start apologizing to Rufus and Lily, but he was so mentally exhausted it just seemed like too daunting of a task. He decided to walk around the corner to the nearest bar instead; he was going to drown his problems in alcohol for the night.

**GG**

**A/N: **_What'd I tell ya? Chapter 13 is up as well tonight. I think I have a pretty good idea of where I'll be taking the next few chapters, but if you have any suggestions-please don't hesitate to let me know! I appreciate any critism given :) I know I've been dragging the DNA test out but I have an idea of how to get that going. You'll just have to wait and see(; Anyways, thanks again for sticking around and continuing to support this story. Stay tuned, a scandal is about to arise in the Upper East Side! _

_-B_


	14. Chapter 14

**I'll Always Be There Chapter 14**

**Strippers and Prostitutes Don't Need Love**

Serena ended up going home from her family's dinner fiasco alone-no sign of Nate anywhere. She had tried to call him on his cell phone but of course he didn't answer. Pissed and embarrassed, she apologized to her mother and Rufus and began to head out. Before she left, Lilly told her things would work out; Serena hoped so.

"Your daddy is probably drunk and passed out somewhere; figures," she said to Salem before she fed her and put her in her basinet. She knew she should get to bed herself since Salem would be up multiple times throughout the night, but she couldn't help but worry about Nate. She was mad at him-sure-but at the end of the day she still loved him. It was the biggest fight they've had since getting together so many months ago. She just wanted him home safe with her tonight; they'd worry about everything else tomorrow. She decided to call his phone last time.

"Nate? It's Serena again. Where are you? I know you know I'm mad, but you should come home and be with your family tonight. We'll worry about this tomorrow. I'm worried about you; just…come home. Please? Give me a call as soon as you get this. Thanks and Nate, I do love you. Bye."

A few moments after hanging up, her phone rang. It was Nate's number. She immediately answered. "Nate! Are you ok? Are you coming home?!"

"S, it's Chuck. I have Nate at my house. He was incoherently drunk off his ass when I found him. He's going to stay with me tonight, and I'll drop him off tomorrow when his hangover is a bit more manageable. I figured since you already have the child to worry about, a drunk Nate on top of that would be too much. Just don't worry, I've taken care of him in this state plenty of times; get some rest. Bye S."

And before Serena could say anything, Chuck hung up. "B's right-he is such a Bassterd," Serena huffed. "Well, no sense in worrying now, I guess I'll head to bed."

**GG**

After having one too many shots, Nate headed to the one person he knew wouldn't nag him about shit-Chuck. He stumbled out of the bar and into a taxi, and arrived at The Empire a few minutes later, ringing the doorbell to Chuck's loft. After a few moments, Chuck answered, looked at Nate's inebriated state, and welcomed him in with open arms. "Baby mama troubles I take it?" Chuck asked before pouring Nate a glass of scotch-probably not the best idea considering Nate's state.

Slurring, but taking the scotch gratefully and draining the cup of its' contents anyways, he said "er whole fuckin' family won't stop ounding me about tha goddamn DNA test! I can't take it nymore!"

Chuck came to sit down next to him and patted his good friends back. He knew he was going through a lot, and Chuck knew he wouldn't want people hounding HIM about a bunch of bullshit either. "So…what are you going to do about Serena then tonight?"

"I was 'oping I could stay with you for tonight. She'll be even more pissed about me etting drunk that we'll end up ighting about that too! It'll come a yelling war and S-s-salem doesn't need to see hat," Nate sputtered out before hiccupping.

"Nate, I say this with as much sincerity that a guy like me could muster…Salem is three weeks old. She doesn't understand shit. If you want to stay here because you don't want to deal with S, just say flat out you don't. You know you don't have to come up with some lame excuse; we love the women in our lives but let's be honest-they can be complete bitches sometimes and its always acceptable to get wasted and go to your friends house to blow off steam for the night. I get it."

Smiling, Nate says, "thanksh Uck. I prieciate it broooo."

"Mmm..yes, well lets stop with this 'bro' crap. We're from the Upper East Side, we're civilized humans," Chuck manages to say before Nate throws up all over the floor. "Well…most of the time anyways. You're lucky that landed on _wood _Nathaniel."

As Chuck gets up to go clean that, Nate's phone rings. Nate groans, "its Erena…I'm not fuckin' talking to her-you do it!"

Rolling his eyes, Chuck obliges, "fine, but you owe me…_**bro."**_

"S, its Chuck…."

**GG**

Nate slowly opens his eyes to a darkened room. Bless Chuck for remembering to pull back the curtains so he didn't wake up with the sun shining brightly with this massive migraine. He knew it'd be bad, but he didn't think it'd be this bad. "Karma," Nate mutters before slowly trying to sit up. But as soon as he sits completely upright, he knows this is just one of _those _hangovers, and he quickly lays back down and goes back to sleep.

A few hours later, Chuck appears above Nate, offering him a drink "mimosa?" He smiles coyly to Nate.

"You're an ass, Chuck!"

"Heh, I know. It's what I do best. Seriously though, these mimosa's are fantastic!"

Nate begins to burrow his head under the cover, whilst giving Chuck the bird. Why did he let himself get _this _wasted? His whole being hurt, and although he threw up most of the contents of the alcohol last night, he still felt like puking.

"Not to be one of those people that you deal with on a daily basis, but its almost noon and S will start chewing me out for keeping you here too long, so I'm going to kindly have to kick you out within the next hour. Coffee is being heated up, and my driver will take you home. Sorry N, but I already have to deal with a raging bitch, I don't need another one nagging me."

"Ah, girlfriends, you've gatta love them."

"Yeah, but strippers and prostitutes you don't. Why did I give that up again?"

Nate chuckled and decided his friend was right. He couldn't hold off seeing Serena forever. Groaning, he hoisted himself out of bed and walked to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of that coffee Chuck had mentioned. Moping around until the last minute, he said his goodbyes and thanks to Chuck, and went down to the car Chuck had waiting for him, relishing the last few minutes before WWIII began.

**GG**

Serena was bouncing Salem up and down trying to calm her down when Nate walked in. Although agitated, she tried to respond to him as calmly as possible so not to piss him off as well. "How are you feeling?"

"Still kind of hung over, but coffee helped. Listen S, I'm sorry for bailing on-"

"It's fine, Nate. I know you were mad, but you took it out on me too, and I did nothing. It's just the same thing all the time with this DNA crap."

"Because everyone won't shut up about it! Everyone keeps nagging me about it nonstop and it gets old. Me and you agreed to wait until she was one to two months old weeks ago and then you suddenly take anyone's side!"

"When did ever take anyone's side? You stormed off after Rufus told us to get the DNA test. I only scolded you for yelling at my parents like you did, but I have never sided with anyone. I will wait until she is two months old like you wanted, I have no problem with that. So stop grouping me in with everyone nagging you and taking it out on me."

"But deep down you want it to be done now just like everyone else."

"Why do you just _assume _this? Once we decided we'd wait, I supported that decision whole heartedly. You just want to keep arguing and fighting about it."

"I'm not meaning to, it just everyone linked to you has been the ones asking; you don't see any of my family or friends nagging."

"You really want to go there? That's because no one but your mother knows about this, and if anyone else knew then we wouldn't even be HAVING this fight. We would've already told Tripp and your grandfather. So, please Nate, stop trying to find an excuse to fight about everything."

At this point, Salem started crying. Giving Nate the evil eye, Serena headed off to the nursery to try to calm her down. "Chuck has a point," Nate muttered under his breath, "prostitutes and strippers don't need love…"

Unfortunately, Serena heard this. She abruptly turned on her heel and glared at Nate. "Then go be with one of them. Unlike them, I don't need to be tested for diseases on a regular basis."

"You used…." Nate cut himself off. He knew he had crossed the line with that one. And he knew he'd get hell from it.

Serena's face wavered for a minute, but then she spat back, "I may have been promiscuous, but I always protected myself. If I hadn't, I would have had ten Salem's by now. I don't deny my past, but I've tried my damndest to change. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to be a better person; how dare you throw that in my face Nate. I never thought you of all people would stoop that low. I want you out of here, now. I have no interest in talking to you at this point."

Again, Nate-not thinking before he spoke-said, "this is my apartment. My grandfather pays for it."

Serena was speechless at first, but then nodded her head. "Fine, I'll take Salem and I'll get out. Just know I won't forget this Nate. I don't know why or how it came to this but I'll get out of your hair." And with that she grabbed Salem's carrier, her purse and a baby blanket and walked out. Her mom had everything Salem needed and she could always get her more, Serena just needed to get out of that loft immediately.

"No, S, wait; I took this too far. I've just been stressed and scared about this whole situation and I'm acting out because-"

"Let's get one thing straight. Using that excuse the first two times, yeah, I'll give that to you; but you can't use it every time you act out or argue and expect me to just forgive you again. I have to deal with this too, Nate. I have to deal with the DNA and if she's Tripp's then deal with him and do you think I want to even see the guy after all that he put me through?! No, but I'll do it for the sake of 'Lem. All you're thinking about is yourself and it's selfish. And I'd rather not deal with it right now; I'm running on three hours of sleep. Call me when you stop acting so immature. You knew what you were getting yourself into when I told you I was pregnant, and when I told you that Salem might not be yours. We shouldn't be having these massive fights every few weeks when someone mentions something too touchy for you. I-I can't handle this right now. I'm going to go."

"S, I'm sorry…"

But she was gone before he could even finish his sentence.

**GG**

**A/N: **_I'm back again. I almost forgot about this story until some awesome reviewer asked me to update, so thank you for that. I'm trying to find the time in my busy schedule to try to write as much as I can of this story. But I'll try to keep updating as regularly as I can, I hate making you guys wait so long. I know it can be frustrating. I also just noticed I'm dragging on with these DNA results. I promise there is literally only going to be one more chapter you guys will have to endure before you get the results; I'm still debating on where I'm going to take it. I want to give Nate his happy ending but at the same time...this is the Upper East Side-there has to be SOME drama haha. I promise there will be a very happy ending to this story regardless of the DNA test. The next chapter will be the annual family get together Nate's family has, and it'll be his first time running into Tripp after his little tustle with him. We shall see how that goes. _

_Again, thanks for the continued support and reviews. I know I'm not updating this as much as I need to or should, but just know that if it's been awhile since I've updated, reviews always motivate me to write; it shows someone's still interested in the story. So don't be afraid to review! _

_Also, I have a lot of good ideas for future fanfics (I've been on a Hunger Games kick recently hint hint) but I WILL NOT be making any new fics until I finish this one. Rest assured haha. _


	15. Chapter 15

**I'll Always Be There Chapter 15**

**The Family Gathering**

It had been a week since the big blowout between Nate and Serena. Although Nate tried to reconcile, Serena wouldn't have it; and Nate guessed it was fair. He had said some pretty awful things to her that day. The only good thing about not talking to Serena was that he wouldn't have to lie or sneak off to his family gathering. He wasn't particularly excited about going, considering his family did at least know about parts of the Tripp affair and how Nate had punched his own cousin in Serena's defense (something his grandfather wasn't happy about. _Of course._), but it was nice not having to explain Salem to anyone. His mom had not said a word of the pregnancy nor the baby, and seeing as his father was in prison, and grandfather never visited him anyways, his dad couldn't let anything slip. So he'd go to the stupid gathering, put on fake smiles and pretend to have a good time-and also try to avoid Tripp as much as possible-and then that would be that. No harm, no foul. He could do this…with some help from his good friend _alcohol. _

**GG**

Nate rubbed his temples, took a big sigh, and muttered to himself "here we go." He thanked the driver, gave him a sizeable tip, and hopped into the cool afternoon air of his grandfather's estate. He had bought an incredibly expensive bottle of the wine he knew his grandfather loved, just to try to soften the blow from the lashing he would no doubtedly get from his grandfather for hitting Tripp. He walks to the front door where he is immediately greeted by a helper, hired specifically for this party.

"Everyone iz een ze backyard, meester, uh.."

"Archibald." Nate answers the lady, trying to match her accent to what country she could be from. Back in the day when Serena and him were kids, and there was help for the many extravagant parties their parents put on all the time, they would guess where the help came from (because most were usually foreigners). Nate felt a sudden pang of guilt. He didn't realize how badly he missed Serena-and Salem for that matter. He vowed to make things right after this stupid gathering was over.

The lady's eyes widened, "oh, so sorry meester Arshibald. I deed not know it vas you. Forgive me."

"Not a problem, no need to be sorry; like you said, there was no way you could know." He slipped the lady a twenty dollar bill and went into the giant estate house. He try to go straight to the bar but gets intervened by his grandfather.

"Nathaniel."

With his back turned to his grandpa, he rolls his eyes before putting on a fake smile and turning around, "grandfather, how do you do? I've brought this for you."

"Mmm, yes, well thank you. So how is college going for you?"

"Very well, I'm getting A's and B's, and am trying to figure out my major now." That was technically a lie; because of sleep deprivation, he had been getting more like low B's and C's and he was pretty sure he had a D in his math class. And he absolutely did not know what the hell his major was going to be. He could barely plan a day out, so planning out his future was next to impossible. He was just saying what his grandpa would want to hear.

"You know, Tripp was top of his class at Yale. Honors student; I would hope you'd at least _try _in college. Those are the best years of your life! You should join a fraternity or be more involved. I'm not paying $100,000 for you to sit on your ass and not do anything."

"Right, grandfather. I appreciate you paying my tuition and apartment fees. I will definitely try to be more active in school." It took everything Nate had to not explode at his grandfather. It wasn't worth the fight.

"And, uh, what about that Sabrina girl? I would hope she's not staying in the loft I so generously pay for, as you mentioned. She has her own family to mooch off of."

"It's _Serena, _and no, she's not living in the loft." It wasn't a total lie. She wasn't living in the loft…right now anyways.

"Well Nathaniel, I expect more out of you for the rest of the year. You have potential you just….have to _use _it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go greet some of the other guests. I'll talk to you later."

Nate nodded, and immediately continued on to the bar before he really just lost all of his cool. Of course his grandfather would criticize his every move. It didn't matter that Nate took the fall for Tripp numerous times, or that is was Tripp who had the affair. And it was TRIPP that introduced Nate to alcohol and weed and sex; but no, he was the golden child of the family…the one that could do no harm and could get away with murder.

As Nate was draining his cup of scotch, and munching on one of the various appetizers being served, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see who it could be. Speak of the devil.

"Tripp…its you."

"Hello little cousin," Tripp said with a coy smile.

"I have no words for you," and Nate spun back around to ask the hired bartender for another-stronger-drink.

"How's Serena been?"

Nate stopped right as the bottle was about to hit he lips. He was furious! He put his drink down and looked Tripp dead in the eyes, "you have NO right to ask about how Serena is doing, do you understand that?"

"Woah, Nathaniel, calm down. I'm genuinely asking. I heard about the…kid off _Gossip Girl._ I just...was, er, worried. I know motherhood wasn't something suited for her. Must be hard for her is all."

Nate seriously felt like he was having a heart attack, "w-what do you know about the kid? What has Gossip Girl been saying?"

Tripp calmly stated, "just that Serena was knocked up. Had a healthy baby girl, and was seen about with you. So it's yours, eh? I always knew you'd screw up royally eventually heh. Haven't told grandfather yet, I see. You can't hide that forever Natie."

Nate looked at Tripp incredulously, and once again was unable to hold his tongue. "I screwed up?! This coming from the guy that had an affair _in the midst of his election! _What dumbass decides to do that? Oh right, this guy right here," Nate points his finger accusingly at Tripp and continues, "he also doesn't have the decency to treat an amazing girl with respect and dignity like she DESERVES either. And he wonders why he lost her."

The tension began to rise between the both of them now. "Now listen up _little cousin. _I loved that girl more than anything else; even more than Maureen (Tripp whispers at this part). Did I show it the right way? Perhaps not, but I would've given the world to her. She knew what she was getting herself into when we got together. I told her we had to lay low until the election was over. Then we could finally be official. I'd get a divorce with Maureen, call Serena mine and flaunt her to the world; because I was **that **proud of her. The thing about Serena, though, is that she's never content for too long. Any time it's not Serena's way she bitches and complains until it IS her way again. I tried my damndest to give that girl anything and everything, but it still wasn't enough. Tell me this, Nate. Although you had been with her before, your guys' relationship over the years was rocky at best. You lost your virginity to her, wore your heart on your sleeve and what does she end up doing? Have wild raucous sex with a bunch of college guys a few months later, and then leaves without telling anybody where the hell she's going. And then she tells you she loves you and then leaves you for your cousin. But when that didn't work out, she goes back to you. Not only is Serena a loose cannon, you're just a _plaything _to her Nate. She uses you when it's convenient for her and dumps you when she finds something better. I miss her, sure, but I'm happy I'm done with her. It takes a truly special person to tame and be with her. She'll fuck your whole world up without even blinking. Good luck being stuck with her and the kid the rest of your life. She's nothing but an immature socialite bitch under it all."

"You asshole; how DARE you speak of Serena like that. What makes you any better than her? You're a scumbag-but then again you're a politician so I guess it fits perfectly. Who leaves someone they truly "love" in a wrecked car bleeding and unconscious? Who locks someone up in a house with no means of communication or transportation? If you didn't want the complications of an affair, you shouldn't have had one in the first place. I'm sick of being second best to you, when I know I'm a better goddamn person than you will EVER be. Stop acting so self-righteous and be a man for once. Admit your faults; I took the fall for you with your campaign. Don't ever forget that! Oh and that 'kid?' She could be yours, so good luck to YOU for having to deal with Serena for the rest of your life." And with that Nate drained his cup of whatever the bartender had given him, feeling quite proud of himself. Until he saw Tripp's face turn white as a ghost, and he processed what he had just said. Ohshitohshitohshitohshit. He had just done the one thing he swore he wouldn't let become public-at least not for a couple more months.

At this point Tripp had taken a seat and began to rub his temples-much like Nate was always doing. "This can't be, I ALWAYS use protection. I swore every time we, er….I used a condom. I'm good about that. It _has _to be yours."

"_She _is not an _it, _Tripp."

"Well SHE can't be mine. I refuse to be a father right now."

"Well I've been hoping and praying to God she'll be mine, so an ass wipe like you doesn't corrupt the poor thing. Serena and I were going to get a DNA test done when she was about one to two months. But I guess that doesn't matter, since you clearly won't do a damn thing about it."

"If she's…mine, I intend to provide for her."

"That's not the same as being her father! It's a 24/7 job, and it takes a _man _to do it. Guess you're not man enough."

"Don't you dare mock me! I am more man than you will ever be Nathaniel. You're just a pathetic college pothead with no direction as to where you're going to take you're life. I am an established and well-respected governor. And you know what? I demand that a DNA test be done immediately, and if the child is mine tell Serena-since it'll no longer concern you-that my lawyers will be contacting her with visitation papers. I'll show you I can be a better father than you will ever be!"

"This isn't another stupid contest, Tripp. We're talking about a human being here! You can't just decide when to be her father when it's convenient for you. She doesn't understand now but when she's five and wants her daddy and he wants nothing to do with her because he proved his point to his cousin, it'll crush her and I refuse for you to fuck up her world like that. I don't care what those tests come back as-she's my daughter and I'll always be there for her!"

"If she's mine, I have rights. I will be there for her. I'll show the world who's the number one dad in the Upper East Side. My supporters will go nuts. I'm calling Serena to have her get that DNA test done. If she's yours, I'll let you be a nice little happy family together-until Serena inevitably leaves you-but if she's mine you better back the fuck off or I will do something about it. I'll be in contact with you both shortly. Bartender, a Cosmopolitan Cocktail please!"

The bartender quickly hands Tripp the drink and he gives Nate one last coy look and goes off to mingle. That whole thing backfired on Nate. He was hoping to push Tripp away altogether, giving Nate the rights to being Salem's father and never having to worry about the DNA test. Now the test would get done two months earlier and Tripp might want to be an active part of Salem's life. Nice, except this was all just another contest to Tripp to prove his dominance over Nate; and that's what Nate couldn't get over. He had given up everything for Serena and Salem-and would do it a thousand more times if need be-but once again his cousin would ruin everything good in his life. He, too, asked for another drink, and once again started to drown his sorrows in alcohol, his only savior in these past few weeks.

**GG**

**A/N: **_So Nate let the truth slip to Tripp far sooner than he wanted to. Uh oh. So I promised the DNA test would be done after this chapter and I set it up to be so. Everyone will know who Salem's father is in the next chapter. I'm still going back and forth and trying to decide what exactly I envision for this story. I have a good idea of what the ending will be but its figuring out the chapters in between that are challenging. I also think its coming close to wrapping this story up. there'll probably be 20/21 chapters total I'm hoping, but I'm having writers block a tad bit. I guess we'll see when the time comes. Like I said, I WILL give Nate, Serena, and Salem the happy ending they deserve; so fear not. It can't rain forever for Nate._

_I know I say this every chapter but I feel it needs to be restated as many times as possible-thanks for those of you that favorite, follow, or review this story. It means the world to me that after almost three years this story is still being supported. I love writing it-I just wish I had more time to write it hah._

_I have two plays I'm going to be in starting tomorrow and I picked up a new job, so my weekdays are going to be busy to say the least, but I'm trying this thing where I don't leave you guys hanging for a year waiting for this story ;) lol so I'm going to try really hard to update whenever possible. Get on me if its been too long of a wait. See you for Chapter 16!_

_-B!_


	16. Chapter 16

**I'll Always Be There Chapter 16**

**Let The "Games" Begin**

"Nate? It's Serena. Why has Tripp been calling me relentlessly demanding a DNA test? What'd you say to him? He's threatening to take me to court if I don't get that test. Call me back!"

It was the third voicemail he had received that morning. Nate was terrified of answering and just like every other big problem in his life, he tried to ignore it hoping that it would go away; but this situation had turned ugly and much more complicated…he didn't know how much longer he could hide from it. He suddenly hears a knock on his door. He rushes to it, hoping it's Chuck or even Blair to help with this situation. It was Serena instead.

"Where the HELL have you been? And why aren't you answering my calls? I'm stressed out about this situation and I know you had your hand in it. So now you're going to face your problems like a big boy and we're going to figure this situation out. Got it?"

All Nate could do was nod. There was no getting out of it now. Serena gestures to a spot on the couch. Trying to make small talk, Nate asks, "So…where's 'Lem?"

"My mother has her; but enough beating around the bush. What are we going to do?"

"Well obviously you're going to have to comply."

"I don't have to do _shit _because he hasn't even been a part of this child's life until just now. I have more rights than him. He can't tell me what to do; he doesn't even know he's the father for sure. So until then he has no right to harass me."

"Why not just get it? Everyone else wants you to. Even you said you'd need to get it soon so Salem can know the truth. Now's as good a time as any."

"Stop being such an ass! I know you're the one who ratted the whole thing out to Tripp in one of your drunken stupors. Now you have to pay the consequences as well. You're helping me through this, YOU'RE the one who said you'd always be there for me. What happened to that?"

Serena had gotten Nate there. He no longer wanted to turn his back to it all, but he didn't know if he could handle the truth. Not if things didn't turn out his way. "I'm sorry I've been such an ass. I just have to prepare myself for this; because I'm scared S. I never knew I could love another human so much and so deeply. I'll always love 'Lem, but it won't be the same if Tripp is her father. He just wants to play daddy to prove a point to me as he always has to do. The fact that he may not care about that little girl sickens me. Why does someone like that get such good coming to him and I do all the RIGHT things, and I'm ten times more a man than he'll ever be, and yet I get shit on? It's not fair."

Serena knew Nate was hurting, and she felt bad for abandoning him. She could see the anguish in his eyes and could almost feel his very soul tearing apart from the stress and sadness. She hoped beyond hope that for once she didn't screw over the one person that she loved more than anything on this planet-besides her daughter of course-by getting knocked up with Tripp's baby. For once she just wished she didn't fuck up and that some good would come to Nate and that Salem would be his. But she also knew she'd have to comply to Tripp's demands about raising his daughter if Salem was his. Tripp was so confident it was his baby that he had already sent Serena a hefty child support check, and had already typed up a lengthy document stating what he wanted from the custody battle. He didn't even know the baby's name (just referring to Salem as 'the child' throughout the whole document) or even how the DNA test would turn out. Why was he so confident in this?

"Babe…I'm so sorry. You've always been there for me to the best of your ability and the one time you needed me most, I had abandoned you. I'm a shit girlfriend and I'm sorry. I never wanted to push this on you. Hell, I never wanted for any of this to happen. If only I could've closed my legs for once to him…if only I wouldn't have fallen for him. We would never be in this situation."

"No, but we wouldn't have Salem in our lives either. Even if she's mine, I would've been careful. If we hadn't been apart and I hadn't saved you…we would've never been as passionate. And we wouldn't have that sweet precious girl. I need to do this for you guys, but especially for her. She deserves to know. I'm finally ready to take that test; and no matter what I'll always love that baby more than anything. That's a promise."

Serena lunges at Nate and kisses him passionately. It becomes pretty heated; his hands caress the whole of her back and he gently gives her a bear hug, having her as close to him as possible. She raked his back with her manicured nails, sending shivers down his spine. It drove him nuts, but he knew this was where they'd have to end it…for now. He had to deal with the problems he had pushed away for so long. He pulled away from the embrace and Serena understood. She nodded her head and gets up from his lap.

"I suppose I'll call Tripp back then."

Nate shakes his head, "No, I'll do it. I don't want him harassing you or threatening you with his lawyers anymore."

Nate gets his iPhone out of his pocket and dials his cousins' number. His heart was pounding so fast he thought he could hear it. Every ring agonized him and he waited to hear a voice on the other line.

"Tripp Van der Bilt, and who am I speaking to?"

"Tripp, its Nate; I wanted to let you know that Serena and I are willing to do that DNA test whenever is convenient for you, but you've got to stop harassing Serena."

"I wasn't harassing her…merely coaxing her into getting the test done when I wanted it done. And see? It worked. Today is Thursday, so I'd say Saturday is a good day. Approximately two pm. Oh and Nathaniel, I don't want you in the room when the test is announced. There's no need to take the test or meddle in my business. It'll either come back positive or negative and unless Serena hasn't told you the complete truth, you're the only one that could be the child's father. Although I have a feeling you'll be sorely disappointed."

Nate was fuming. What right did Tripp have to deny him of being in the room? Why was he so sure that 'Lem was his? "No, Tripp, I have every right to be in that room and take that test. How dare you tell me otherwise. And don't be so cocky...**Salem-**she has a name Tripp-is looking more and more like me every day. We will see you Saturday and I have every intention of taking that test and being there for the results."

Tripp snickered, "we'll see about that little cousin. I've seen pictures on Gossip Girl; she has my-as you so cutely call them-'monkey ears.' May the better man win Nathaniel. Tell Serena I'll see her and Sadie Saturday."

"IT'S NOT A GAME TRIPP. YOU ASSHOLE, SHE'S A HUMAN BEING FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! AND HER NAME IS _SALEM!_" But the line had already gone dead.

How dare Tripp treat Nate like that. He turned to Serena, "I don't care if that test comes back saying that she's his. I will show the whole goddamn world how unfit he is to care for her. I will expose who Tripp Van der Bilt-beloved governor and the poster boy of perfection-that he is the most imperfect and vile human being on this planet. So help me god.

Tripp saw this all as a game. Very well. He may have won round one, but he wasn't going to win the entire game. For once in Nate's life, he was going to win against Tripp.

**GG**

**A/N: **_Hey guys. I got a lot of reviews lately and felt bad about leaving you guys hanging. There's no excuse to be this spaced between chapters. Thank you all for waiting patiently (or impatiently-absolutely fair hah) and for all the wonderful reviews. It's nice to see people still enjoy this story. Things have been chaotically busy so I wont promise I'll be the best uploader; DON'T GROW UP KIDS! But I will try to be better. I now know where I'm taking this story and a pretty good way to end it. And I will say that despite the downs that all will have to face in the coming chapters, there will be a "happily ever after." Cliché, but I'm sure you all will like it. I'm thinking I want to end this at 20 chapters so you guys can finally view a completed story without having to wait forever to find out what happens. We'll see if I can end it good with only four more chapters to go. Regardless, I do want to finish up this story and move on to the next. Hopefully I will get my butt into gear and just type out the next few chapters over the weekend and not have to make you guys wait so long. Thanks again for all the support-its the reason I keep continuing this story. You guys are the best._

_-B!_


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